Would you normally associate pizza with Germany? No – normally it’s pizza with Italy. What kind of pizza would Germany produce – a schnitzel pizza or something?
Let me back up… about 3 months ago, my husband and I were checking out the frozen pizza at our grocery store and came across a new brand. Hmmm… picture looked good, price was mediocre. Let’s try it!
After eating one or two of the pizzas, we looked at the box again and long and behold we see the words printed in black, “Product of Germany”. What?!
So as an Italian who writes about Italian foods – what do I do?
Ok – so the name of the brand is Dr. Oetker and the line of pizzas is “Ristorante”. I checked out their website, and they state that this is the top selling brand in Italy for frozen pizzas. Hmm.. ok, so I don’t feel so bad now.
It’s a family owned enterprise (4th generation), and offer more than just pizzas – but desserts and other goodies too.
But let’s talk pizza:
They have 5 varieties:
- Pizza Funghi: Mushroom pizza
- Pizza Mozzarella: Mozzarella pizza – really a margarita pizza
- Pizza Genorosa: Pepperoni pizza (another similar variety on their site is called Pizza Speciale (Specialty Pizza).
- Pizza Spinaci: Spinach pizza
- Pizza Quattro Formaggi: 4 Cheese Pizza
- Pizza Vegetale: Veggie pizza
My favorites are the Spinach pizza and mozzarella pizza. What makes this line of pizza stand out from the rest is the freshness of the ingredients.
I assume they freeze dry the ingredients because it’s not a mess of wilted tasteless vegetables or other ingredients. For example, the mozzarella pizza uses a basil pesto instead of basil leaves. But the pesto tastes fresh! It really tastes like pesto. And gives me an idea for a basil Italian pizza dough recipe without the need of fresh basil leaves….
And for the veggie pizza – yeah it really tastes like ingredients that are out of the refrigerator.
Of course the sodium level is still high – 750 mg for 1/3 of a pizza. So I don’t like that, but in comparison to other pizzas, I’d still opt for this one. Although every once in a while the greasy thick Red Baron just seems to jump out into my cart while I’m not looking…
So all in all, I’d say check out these pizzas and see if you like them. Remember to round out the meal with some pasta or salad on the side.
Until next time..
Mmm I’d love to try them but have never seen the brand. Did you buy it in a major grocery store?
Hi Barbara –
There is a chain here called Martin’s, which is basically Giant. Do you have them where you are? They are in the frozen pizza section. They are very delicious!
Wow, that’s really nice story. Thanks for sharing. We love to eat pizza! yummy!