Jewel Brand Take & Bake Pizza

Tried another Chicago area frozen pizza, tho this one wasn’t frozen, it was ‘fresh” in the deli section of the Jewel Grocery.  Jewel is the Chicago area brand for SuperValu, which also owns Albertsons, Cub, Lucky, Save-a-Lot and others.

SuperValu itself was the successor of a company started by Hugh Harrison, in 1870, as a wholesaler serving merchants in Minneapolis and St. Paul. (Of course, haven’t you learned all good things come from Minnesota?  True!)  This pie is made for SuperValu by the Swiss food giant Aryzta, which had acquired the plant of Great Kitchens in Romeoville, IL, for $180 million in 2010.

This pie weighed in at a hefty 31 ½ ounces for about $7.00 or 22 cents an ounce.  A good value.   The box is labeled simply “Take & Bake” and this variety was “Italian Sausage with a Blend of Five Cheeses on Our Premium Crust.”

Instructions called for 15-18 minutes at 375, pretty low heat for a cook at home pizza.   After 15 minutes in this oven, it wasn’t quite done enough for my satisfaction, but after the full 18, it was.

The sauce is very sweet, the sausage is good, the crumbles a little small for my preference.   The crust is doughy, doesn’t crisp up, and is a little thicker than I would like.

But it’s adequate for general tastes, and as I said, a good value.

Jewel Take & Bake Pizza

Jewel Take & Bake Pizza

Jewel Take & Bake Pizza

Unbaked

Jewel Take & Bake Pizza

After 15 minutes at 375