Busman’s holiday. A funny phrase. It means I’m taking time off from my job as a write to write this, which is supposed to be a hoppy, but has turned into a second job. No rest for the wicked, as they say.
Developed originally by Kraft, the DiGiorno frozen pizza line now calls Switzerland based Nestle “momma”, and markets their pies under the DiGiorno name in the United States, and under the Delissio label. No idea why the split.
DiGiorno has long used the advertising tag line “it’s not delivery, it’s DiGiorno” as a reference to there being a frozen pizza product that is every bit as good as a pizza delivered from a shop.
They have a host of types of pizza products and configurations; from classic thin crust, to flat bread – garlic bread pizza and rising crust. One of their more interesting products is the “pizza and sides” concept, emulating the offerings of the budget delivery chains, from DiGiorno you can get a frozen pizza and boneless chicken “Wyngz” in one box. A little sauce as well. Or pizza and breadsticks.
Nestle’s latest offering is “Pizzeria style”, which strikes me kind of funny, since the previously mentioned tag line would seem to indicate the manufacturer thinks ALL of their pies are “pizzeria style.”
The difference, apparently, according to the fat cats in Vevey, is that this pie has a “crust that’s crispy, yet soft and airy on the inside, a flavorful sauce and premium toppings.”
I guess it’s too much that we hope all frozen pizzas are crispy and flavorful with premium toppings. I wonder what the opposite would be?
Nevertheless, I picked one up to give it a whirl.
The box is designed and shaped to give the impression of a large pizza than actually comes in the box. The frozen pie is pictured to the left, and yes, I DID rearrange the pepperoni for the photo. Yes, of COURSE it came out of the box with all the toppings on one side of the pie.
The box states this is ‘primo pepperoni pizza” and it is “created with care.” (Which Nestle has trademarked. Are their other pies created with not so much care?)
Further there are “no artificial flavors.” I’m not really sure what that means.
375 at 18-20 minutes say the operating instructions, with a cautionary ” not ready to eat – cook thoroughly” warning. Thanks for telling me!
I am a bit predisposed to not favor this pie, pizzeria style or not. The crust is going to be a little too thick for me.
The first thing I noticed when the pie came from the oven was the aroma, or rather lack of it. No pizzeria smell. Not like local product Vito and Nicks II which we tried last week.
The crust? Yes, while it is ‘crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside’, it’s too thick for my personal preference. It would definetly be labeled “thick crust” at any pizzeria. The sauce is rather non-intrusive, not imparting any particular flavor one way or another, but the cheese is good, albeit sparse, and the pepperoni flavor is nice, but the slices cupped during baking, which generally indicates a higher fat content. I know, I know, some people insist real flavor comes from fat. Each slice of pepp here is dotted with some herbs.
Overall? Nothing new, tastes like dozens of other frozen pizzas.
See, here’s where I don’t get it. Why can’t these giant multinationals make a good frozen pie? For goodness sake, Nestle is the largest food company in the world! Yet lots of little guys kick their butts when it come to making a good frozen pizza.
I have a suggestion for Paul Bulcke, the current CEO of Nestle. On your next trip to the US, step inside a Trader Joe’s grocery store. Trader Joe’s imports frozen pizzas from France and Italy, and have several different varieties including flatbreads. The truffle one is out of this world.
Now skedaddle back to Europe and buy the companies supplying Trader Joes. Now rebrand those pizzas with the DiGiorno name, and toss out your current recipes.
Just a thought. Wanna try a great frozen pizza?
DiGiorno pizza review