Man Just Go!

True happiness- What in the world is that? For some it’s the satisfaction of hearing the sound of their favorite ball player hammering a pitch out of the park. For others maybe the memory of a child’s birth or the ceremonial first kiss on a wedding day. For me, true happiness resembles taking a bite of a pizza so delicious, so cheesy, saucy and crispy that I just can’t help but reach for slice after slice without room for thought. 

As you can imagine, coming up with the material for this portion of my blog makes me very happy. I’ve had some amazing pizza since relocating to Philly, and I promise to create a post reviewing some shops within the coming months. To continue in the spirit of my ManJustGo Rising Crust frozen pizza review, here goes a review of a DiGiorno Ultimate Pepperoni Rising Crust which I happily enjoyed last week.  

First Impression

Right off the bat, this frozen pizza had great form. The sauce, mozz., and pepperoni was evenly distributed amongst the pie, leaving enough space for the crust to cleanly expand in the oven. After going googly eyes over the pie’s appearance, as if a giant golden doodle suddenly walked in the room and stole my attention, I set the oven to preheat to 400° F and nibbled on a couple of cold double-stacked pepperoni slices that I peeled off the pie. 

I followed DiGiorno’s recommended instructions and let the pie bake for 19 minutes. After the time passed, I opened the oven and checked on my once frozen pizza. I found the crust to still be a bit soft so I let the pie sit in the oven for another five minutes- Five extra minutes seems to be a golden number for frozen pizzas in this scenario. After 24 minutes of total bake time, all of the ingredients cooked nicely over the pie and the crust rose and crisped to pastry like perfection.   

Texture

As stated in my previous review, texture is a very important attribute of a pizza pie. Sticking true to its’ name (and that of this review series as well), DiGiorno’s rising crust did in fact rise to about two thumbs width of towering, crispy fluff. The dough was chewy inside and crispy on its outer layer. The cheese melted and stretched as perfectly as one can expect from a frozen pie (though, cooking pies in something other than an oven may challenge this thought) and the pepperoni felt natural, as if off a slice at your local corner pizzeria. Overall, the pie could have used a tad bit more red sauce as it did lean towards the drier side (perhaps due to the denser than usual crust).  

Taste

During our most recent Halloween season, I saw the film A Quiet Place: Day One and what resonated with me most from the movie was Lupita Nyong’s character’s decision to have one last pizza slice from her favorite childhood pizzeria rather than saving herself from an alien invasion. I’m not sure if I’ve had pizza worth losing my life to extraterrestrial destruction over yet, but, the DiGiorno Ultimate Pepperoni Rising Crust pie was pretty delicious. 

The pie’s crust had a nice taste to it. There was a slight hint of starchiness complimented with a buttery crisp. It was as if a croissant and unsweetened pound cake had a love child that grew up and took on being a pizza crust for a living. The mozzarella had a good flavor and was definitely present in the bite. The sauce was slightly sweet and could have used more herbs but was delicious and the pepperoni was perfect. I would have preferred more red sauce to enhance the pie’s flavors. 

The Verdict    

DiGiorno’s Ultimate Pepperoni Rising Crust pizza provided me with a satisfying experience. A well executed frozen pizza that showed respect for the laws of the mighty pizza gods and had a great tasting fluffy crust. The pizza doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but does pizza ever really need to? This DiGiorno pie gets a 7/10 on the ManJustGo! Rising Crust frozen pizza review rating scale. Feel free to reach out if you manage to cook a pie over a camp fire or bunsen burner! 

-Giovanni Alvarado