Vegan Pepperoni Frozen Pizza? That tastes good? GET OUT OF THE CITY! YES! It’s finally in Boulder at Whole Foods after many months wait and we had to have a pizza party a few weeks ago to try them all out. Tofurky Pizza comes in three flavours: pepperoni, cheese and sausage with peppers and grilled veggies. Kids, this stuff is GREAT! This is good for frozen pizza, period, much less vegan pizza. The Turtle Island folks have done it again and they decided to be the very first vegan pepperoni pizza on the frozen aisle. We used to love frozen pizza, it reminded us of our childhoods eating Totino’s Party Pizza and out of this box, the sight almost brought a tear to my eye. I remembered my grandmother buying that particular brand of pizza for me to have on Saturdays as a treat when I’d go over to her house. We’d have Kool Aid and Party Pizza. (Admit it, this looks familiar!) :
This pizza pie does our old fave justice with a similar dimension, crispy but light crust and CUBED pepperoni and a light (not gross) portion of Daiya cheese. (In case you have been living under a rock, Daiya is the only non-dairy cheese that melts like the real thing and TASTES amazing– a review of that is underway for any of you rock-dwellers out there). But where the old time Party Pizzas were a greasy, meat-slathered, sweet (on what I assume is a deep fried crust) kiddie-pie, Tofurky Frozen Pepperoni Pizza is lean, vegan, cholesterol free, high protein, critter-free and all natural. It’s an optimal choice for lactose intolerant, vegetarian or vegan diners.
I have always been on the look out for decent vegan pepperoni and have found most versions tasty, but not quite authentic. This stuff is amazing. The pepperoni tastes great and even has little “fat” globules and just the right texture (don’t start gagging – they replicated the authentic pepperoni flecks with brown rice) but isn’t as salty as the real stuff. The crispy (but not card-board-crispy) crust is the best I’ve had on ANY frozen pizza. The sauce was not my favourite element of this pizza, it could use a little saltiness or sweetness to cut the acidic tomato-y bitterness but it was tasty nonetheless. (* some of the taste testers thought the sauce was fabulous. )
The Cheese Pizza is REALLY good and, thankfully, it doesn’t have too much cheese on it. Diaya is a wonderful thing, but too much of a wonderful thing is not good. As with all cheeses, it turns gloppy or slimy if there is too much. This is one you could spice up with your own fixins and toppings. The sauce tastes a little different on this version -and it might be my imagination, but it seems more delicate and less aggressively tomato-y and it pairs well with the mozzarella-cheddar mix of the cheese. It’s also very “Tontio’s-esque” but in a good way:
but my second favourite, behind the pepperoni Totino’s flashback of childhood, was THIS baby right here:
Of all the three varieties, this one is the most sophisticated. This is a delicious combination of vegan sausage and grilled vegetables. I wish they added a little more fennel to their Italian sausage, but I add the fennel seeds on with a little dash of sea-salt. Delicious! The smokiness of the veggies and the savory sausage is a perfect match for the sauce and crispy crust.
For 6 bucks and some change.. you can’t go wrong!!!
Note: I haven’t been up to blogging this year yet, as I’ve been very busy working, and also getting into a new dietary routine in which I am eating mainly unprocessed whole foods and limiting “white” and refined foods. My rule is “single ingredients that are what they are.” I will be posting some new recipes but I also wanted to post some reviews I’ve not had time to publish (like the above). Of COURSE there will still be reviews from the “junk food” loving side of the family and I will still be sampling treats once a week.
After all, moderation in all things! ~B~!
