Man Just Go!

As the story goes, in the beginning of time, there was light…..and there was pizza. Yes, you read that correctly: Pizza. Pizza has been a staple of manhood for generations. Whether you prefer the dense bites of a Chicago deep dish, the crispy comfort of a Grandma slice, or stretching the melted mozzarella from a folded New York-style slice- Pizza is the shit. What’s the best part about pizza? Besides its’ awesome taste, pizza is available in shops, restaurants, stadiums, arenas, theaters, and pubs across the globe! While researching for this post I ran a quick search on Google asking “Is pizza a comfort food?”. The words ultimate and universal immediately stood out in a bunch of article headlines. After watching Dave Portnoy conquer Youtube with his One Bite Pizza Reviews series, I’ve decided to join in on the fun and show my love for the greatest food on the planet, except my reviews will be in the form of blog posts reviewing different brands of frozen pizza. 

What makes pizza so awesome? Is it the crispiness, the way the cheese melts, or the overall combination of flavors of just another low cost food item created to feed the working class? Today, I’ll provide a bite by bite analysis of a Mama Cozzi’s branded Cheese Stuffed Crust Pepperoni Pizza purchased at Aldi Grocery Store. Here goes my honest review:

First Impression

While I’d hate to start off on a sour note, I have to say this frozen pie was a bit disorganized. A bunch of pepperoni slices migrated to the middle of the pie but fortunately, no cheese followed. This wasn’t a deal breaker of any sort as I scattered the pepperoni across the pie while waiting for the oven to preheat to 400°f. 

I heated the pizza for Mama Cozzi’s maximum recommend time of 21 minutes then stumbled upon another challenge. The cheese had already begun to brown before the crust reached its maximum level of crispiness. I decided to take a risk and let the pie sit in the oven for an extra five minutes as this is my first review and we do not yet truly understand the paradigm of balancing a crispy crust with melted cheese in the frozen pizza world. Pop went the oven door and out came the pizza.  

Texture

Texture can generally make or break pizza. The mozzarella was not stringy at all but was as soft and chewy as the most decent of slices. The base was more doughy than flakey but still had a crisp that was complimented by the moisture of an ideal amount of red sauce and folded into a mozzarella stuffed crust. This was by far the star of the show and felt like a baked mozzarella stick was attached to my pie. The cheese in the crust melted properly and the pepperoni could have been more crunchy.   

Taste

Honestly, pizza houses my favorite combination of flavors. The crust, cheese, and sauce team up to form a cultural carnival of taste with each bite. This is intensified by a plethora of seasonings and toppings you can add to the mix. Each keystroke describing this phenomenon leads to an additional volume of water in my mouth. Let’s talk about this Mama Cozzi’s pie. The cheese was tasty. Not the fanciest of mozzarellas, but tasty. The red sauce could have used a hint of seasoning but worked. The pepperoni was tasty enough to compete with its crispier counter parts (which I attribute to the sausage being made of a combination of Pork, Chicken, and Beef). The dough was standard and the cheese stuffed crust was AMAZING.  

The Verdict    

Mama Cozzi’s did a really great job with this Cheese Stuffed Crust Pepperoni Pizza.  If you’re in  a rush, need to stock up the freezer, or want to save some money from take out- I whole heartedly recommend this pie. The 26 minutes of bake time are well worth the wait and each slice comes attached with a baked Mozzarella stick. The cheese stuffed crust and pepperoni definitely stole the show- Which ultimately leads to me giving this pie a 7.7 out of 10 on the ManJustGo frozen pizza review scale. Enjoy, and shoot me a message if you manage to get a stringy and crispy pie from your bake!

-Giovanni Alvarado