Review: Amy’s Cheese and Pesto Pizza

I actually got the idea for this blog as I was angrily wandering the aisles of my grocery store of choice yesterday evening. They (Schnucks) are currently remodeling that particular location, and everything is so freaking hard to find right now! I was texting my husband angry emojis while simply trying to track down a box of Honeycombs (they didn’t even end up having them, just the new marshmallowy kind). But luckily, the frozen pizza case was moved right up front, and I noticed there were several kinds new to the store. YAY!

Now, as a picky eater, or person with Selective Eating Disorder, or however you want to frame it, I don’t normally stray too far from a certain circle of foodtypes I know are “safe.” One of those areas that allows me to try a new variety of a perennial favorite is plain cheese (HELLO, blog name) pizzas. I make it my mission to try them all, but realized that I was horrible at remembering which ones I liked, had bought before, and so forth. Enter this blog, where not only can I keep a nice database of eats, but can have a bit of fun and share my finds with others. Okay, so I digress…

One of the new pizzas (not new-new, just new to the store and me) was Amy’s Cheese and Pesto Pizza. And yeah, it strays a little bit from the plain cheese pizza box I put myself in, but hey, I adore pesto. I have a little bit of an obsessive thing for garlic. So I excitedly dropped it in my cart, along with a Newman’s Own cheese pizza to be reviewed later.

Home with my prize! Heat faster, oven!

I didn’t notice until I got home that the back of the box sported a line that the front does not: “Whole Wheat Crust.” What?! I was suddenly not sure about this purchase. I prefer my carbs to be as unhealthy as possible. And hey, what the heck, Amy’s? The front of MY box looks nothing like this box.

What the balls, Amy’s? “Whole wheat crust?!”

I was super hungry and decided to go ahead and give it a shot. A running joke in our house, I warned my husband of the impending garlic breath, placed the pizza directly on the rack, and waited the 12 minutes (the box recommends 12-14). These pizzas come pre-cooked, so they really don’t take long to get nice and brown and bubbly.

What, you don’t eat your pizzas off of the box it came in?

The pizza sliced easily (I use scissors, do you? My husband thinks it’s nuts.), and the finished product looked quite yummy. I ate half of the thing. And on that topic, what is with these companies lately that make a THIRD of a pizza a serving size? Who cuts their pizzas in anything but even numbers? A math-challenged girl like myself has a heck of a time calculating calories when you have eight slices and nutrition facts for 1/3.

Hmm, the crust doesn’t look too bad. Maybe I’ll live.

Now, onto the taste. I was a little disappointed on the first few bites. The pizza actually seemed a bit bland to me, much like how most Neapolitan pizzas seem to taste. It was not bad by any means — the cheese was gooey (crusty and nice on the crust), the pesto did have a nice basil and heavy olive oil taste, but I was missing the strong garlic flavor I was hoping for, and the tomato sauce wasn’t very present. I had been worried about the crust, but the whole wheat wasn’t that noticeable, though the texture itself was rather dense and chewy and reminded me of homemade dough.

While writing this review, I attempted to eat the second half of the pizza, but after a quick nuke in the microwave, I liked it even less and only made it through two slices. If I had been in less of a hurry, reheating it in the oven would likely have had a better result.

Would I Buy It Again? Eh, not likely. I enjoy the olive oil and herbal flavors, but I’d rather eat my current favorite frozen pizza that has similar qualities but better overall taste, the DiGiorno Pizzeria! line (They are seriously the bomb… but that’s another post!). I would, however, be happy to give Amy’s plain cheese pizza, sans pesto, a shot, and see how it compares. Hey, I think I’ll do that.