Ginos East Frozen Pizza Review

Jon Stewart, the witty host of TV’s “The Daily Show” took off on Chicago deep dish pizza last week, as a postscript to a story about the new World Trade Center being named the tallest building in America.  Seems Mr. Stewart’s opinion of the 2nd city is less than favorable, and his pizza rant took up quite a long segment. If you missed it, I’ve included it here.

Now I’m not all that crazy about Chicago deep dish, but it certainly didn’t deserve the slam Mr. Stewart laid on it; Chicago responded quickly, with the Mayor sending a pie to the show, and a family member from Lou Malnati’s, one of the city’s more successful chains known for Chicago deep dish, visiting the show with one of his pies. Stewart begrudgingly said the pizza was “good” and declared a truce.

Mind you, I don’t DISlike deep dish (Chicago style), it’s just I prefer pizza for the toppings and cheese, and less for a heavy crust.

Gino’s East is one of the more renown deep dish makers in the city, with about a dozen locations, and like many successful pizza restaurants, they have a frozen line that closely parallels the restaurant pizza.

They are widely available in grocery stores, weigh in at two full pounds, and cost considerably less than at the restaurant, of course.

The Gino’s East version of the Chicago pie starts with a thick butter flavored crust in a two inch pie pan, followed by a layer of cheese, a layer of sausage, more cheese, and thick and chunky tomato sauce on the top. (That order was part of the source of Stewart’s consternation – “sauce on the top!”).

While it takes nearly forty minutes to bake at home, the result is worth it, a flavorful pie, with quality ingredients. If I was in charge, I would make a few small changes, I’d go with a single patty of sausage spanning the pie (as some places do), and more cheese.  Gino’s East  frozen uses sausage crumbles.  I can imagine that these are pre-cooked, resulting in a less greasy pie, which is understandable and a good thing.

The pies are made by a contract manufacturer in the tiny town of Waupaca, Wisconsin;  Chef Fresh is the name of the outfit, and I found an old news story about them.

Find Gino’s East Frozen Pizza at these stores, or order online.  When you’re in Chicago, hit up the restaurant for the ‘real deal’ and be sure to write your name and message on the restaurant walls!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ginos East Frozen Pizza Review