Fourteenth FPR – Bellatoria Sausage Italia Ultra Thin Crust

Thank you to everyone for your continued support. Even though I gave up on FP’s you didn’t give up on me. Thanks to all the FPE’s (frozen pizza enthusiasts) out there, I am happy to announce the blog hit 25k views this past weekend. In order to celebrate, a brand new FPR is here!:

Wow! frozen pizza season is truly upon us. Break out the grills, rip open the charcoal, and make some friends. This review is all about the coalescence of classic and contemporary.

• suggested cook time 10-15 minutes
• $5.99
• 18.27 ounces (v. precise)
• 1240 Cal/FP
• Not the best numbers: 207 Cal/$, 3.05 oz/$

Bellatoria is a FPB (frozen pizza brand) owned by Bernatello’s Pizza, Inc.. Bernatello’s also owns Orv’s, Brew Pub (makers of lotzza motzza), and Roma. As far as I can tell, the name Bellatoria is just supposed to sound vaguely Italian and doesn’t actually translate to anything in English. The closest thing to a translation i could find is “bella tori” which means “beautiful bull”. More like a bunch of bull. Anyways…

FPR:

Appearance:

This pizza comes in a pretty corporate looking box:

Polished and bright. A little too polished and bright.

I don’t hate how glossy and refined it looks, but i don’t love it either. The “ultra thin crust” font is a little try-hard, and the “ultra” prefix seems a lot try-hard and unnecessary.

The unboxed pie presents itself pretty well. According to the box, there are three types of cheese and two types of sausage that populate the bed of “Rich Italian Sauce”. The toppings were spread around well enough, with a bit of crimson peaking through the three cheese blend near the edges.

OK topping dist. Good looking cheese.

I cooked this FP in a regular oven (Plz Davey give me Pizzazz back). The pie got cooked unevenly as a result. See the strange caramelization of cheese below:

is it uneven because of the topping distribution, or the oven? IDK, i report u decide.

I do really like how the cheese started to brown around the edges, and I wanted to let the pie cook a bit longer to let the center get in on that caramel action… In the end i decided to play it safe. Some undercooked portions are better than some burnt portions in my book.

Nose:

Herbal. Italian-Peruvian spice blend. Definitely garlic… Probably some oregano. Hints of dried fennel seed. Overall, more scent and better scent than most pizzas.

Mouth-Feel:

I like this aspect of the pie, specifically i like how simple it seems. The cheese isn’t stringy, the sausage is there, the sauce is plentiful, and the crust is crispy. There isn’t much more you could ask for. Very pleased here.

Overall:

I was a little wary of Bellatoria as a company, especially when i learned they were associated with Roma. Once I moved past the initial investigation and moved to the initial digestegation, I was satisfied with the quality of the FP.

Ratings:

Value: 64/100 – Pretty low value, ate the whole pie without a problem.

Taste: 91/100 – Really liked this pie’s zest. I appreciated the Italian sausage’s spice. Not a lot, but just enough

Aura: 77/100 – Ehhh, I still think Bellatoria is trying a little too hard with the box. I also don’t like the pandering with the vague Italian motif. Maybe that’s an issue with my lens as much as it is with Bellatoria’s FPP.

Mouth-feel: 88/100 – V. good here. Nothing fantastic, nothing special.

Overall: 80/100 – B/C

Suggested wine paring – Night Train Express

P.S. The only difference in the ingredients list between the “sausage” and “Italian sausage” is “flavorings”. I mean i guess that’s how I’d go about the alchemy of turning sausage into I
Italian sausage too. Idk just a great little pizza fact.

Hopefully these reviews will come out in a more regular basis. We’ll see.