This post brought to you by FRESCHETTA®. All opinions are 100% mine.
One of my readers has a chance to win a free Freschetta Simply…Inspired Pizza, plus a snifty (snazzy-nifty) new bamboo cutting board with the accessories to lay out a great appetizer display. Read on for details on how to win!
When I was in grade school, my parents moved to a two cow and one horse town (the horse actually got loose and ran around on the playground once) where the highlight of the week was eating a frozen pizza from the one grocery store and then going out for an ice cream. No, there wasn’t a pizza place, so the ice cream shop constituted a big spending night out. The pie was inevitably backed in cardboard and shrink wrapped with a cactus on the label. (What did pepperoni pizza have to do with some abandoned Old West ghost town? After all, it wasn’t as if they had baked beans and rattlesnake or bison as toppings.)
“Mom, let me open it.” Yes, the pie was so close, but yet so far under the clear shrink plastic.
“Here’s the kitchen scissors.”
“I can get my finger nail under the edge. What’s wrong with this?”
Two seconds later, a vacuum-pack pressure seal burst and mozzarella showered the floor.
I haven’t had a pizza from the grocery store in a few moons, mostly because of the deep-seated trauma, and I was quite surprised by the advances Humankind has made.
This past week, I tried a new FRESCHETTA® Simply…Inspired™ Pizza thanks to Freschetta. (Look them up on Twitter @FreschettaSI or “like” them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/FreschettaSimplyInspired) Six standard-issue flavors and three limited edition combinations are stocked at your local grocer. The varieties are more akin to those at a gourmet pie factory rather than the standard fare at take out pizza counters. If you are a fan of Bertucci’s on the East Coast, Crust, or California Pizza Kitchen (the restaurant, not the frozen pizza), this will be slightly more to your liking than a $5 Hot and Ready at Caesar’s. The Classic Bruschetta, which appeared at the Snack Hound test kitchen, features a garlic pesto base rather than a tomato sauce—a boon for acid-reflux suffers. A smattering of chopped Roma tomatoes, fresh basil and roasted garlic top a three cheese blend. Basically, its a Margherita pizza with a cream rather than a tomato base.
The crust is wafer thin compared to other Freschetta pizza offerings, and I caution you to cook the pizza on the lean end of the 14-17 minute time allotment. Then again, I used a pizza stone, so there is that margin of error. For best results, set the timer for ten minutes and then check it if cooking on a stone or using a convection oven. For traditional ovens, check it after 12. The crust will approach a golden brown, but you might be one of those folks who just like the heat to glance at the cheese. Pan seared Mozzarella, anyone?
What most impressed me was the expiration date on the pizza. Yes, it actually had one. Mine was purchased April 23rd and expired in July. This is most likely why I was not overwhelmed with the sodium-heavy taste of many instant pizzas. It simply doesn’t have the dearth of preservatives. The Fresch-Taste Seal package is a plastic, recyclable tray with a peel off top. It really does lock the flavors in. I know you will miss the exercise of poking shrink wrap with a tooth pick, but it does use 30% less packaging than the traditional boxed frozen pizzas.
The taste of the pizza did not have a strong sodium bouquet like I am used to for frozen pizzas. The basil added just the right amount of sweetness. Due to the very thin crust, I would recommend cooking up two pizzas if two hungry but not gluttonous adults were making a meal of it with no salad or appetizers. The perfect application would be as a fancy appetizer at a party. Cut up the pizza into thin slices and serve on a cutting board.
Bottom line, would I buy these? I wouldn’t buy them for any linebacker-like brothers and his linebacker friends, but would definitely buy them if I wanted a bit of a more upscale pizza experience.
Speaking of cutting boards, are you ready to win? One of my lucky readers receives a small round bamboo cutting board that swivels to hide the perfect utensils for serving cheeses and other appetizers. You will also receive a certificate to redeem for a Freschetta Simply Inspired Pizza from your grocer.
To enter:
1) Comment on this blog post: Each comment laureat will receive one entry.
2) Tweet: Tweet this post to your friends. Include @TheSnackHound in your tweet, that way I’ll be able to find it and give you an additional entry.
3) Follow @TheSnackHound on Twitter. Leave me a comment here to let me know with your twitter handle if its not obvious.
4) Blog about this post with a link back.
So..you have a total of four chances to win. Winner will be determined by random number generator.
Contest Closes May 8th.
Reader must reside in the Continental USA or Canada to win.
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Guest post written by Meredith Garrett
