Muuum.....can Tom stay for Dinner.....? (Tesco Value Cheese & Tomato Pizza)

Member Name: hypno06

Product:	Tesco Value Cheese & Tomato Pizza
Date:	16/08/09 (115 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A cheap and verstile pizza

Disadvantages: Sometimes lacks topping.

I would say that we have pizza for dinner in our house at least once a week. If forms the basis of a cheap, filling meal that is flexible - and one that my children have always been happy to wolf down, without any argument..

For example, you can serve a pizza whole as it is, with nothing to accompany it - just run the pizza cutter through, and plonk it on the plate. You can divide it into two or into quarters, and serve with some chips and your teenagers will love you. If you have unexpected friends brought home with your teenagers, cut into smaller wedges, add a few extra chips and a tin of beans and your pizza will go further still, and if the unexpected friends are adults, then you can substitute the chips and beans for pasta and salad leaves, and you can always be able to produce an impromptu meal!

So, a pizza or two always finds its way into my shopping trolley each week. There are lots of offers on in the supermarkets for branded pizzas at the moment, so most of the time I simply pick up whichever BOGOF offer is about, meaning that I have very little pizza loyalty.

However, when there is no BOGOF offer or if it I am having a real "budget shop" week, then I revert to the pizza that I believe really does live up to its name - Tesco Value pizza.

Value pizzas come in two sizes in my store - packs of four "individual" pizzas that are about 6 inches across, and the large pizza that is at least 12 inches in diameter. I tend to buy the large pizza - it is found in the chiller cabinets, not the freezers, and costs a whole 99p.......

The picture above shows this pizza in a box, but the ones in my store are not boxed, but wrapped in plastic film, with a polystyrene base to keep the pizza rigid while you are transporting it.

They do come in two flavours - cheese and tomato, and pepperoni. The pepperoni one is still "value" but priced at more than the plain one, as you might expect, but it is several months since I have seen this variety in my local stores, so I couldn't comment on it any more.

So, by default, the good old cheese and tomato pizza is on the meal plan for the week. The amount of cheese topping on these pizzas varies, so the one at the top of the pile may have a skimpy sprinkling of cheese on it. Rummage through the leaning tower of Pizza though, and you will be likely to find one that has more cheese on it - grab it and lay claim to it before another bargain hunting pizza loving stressed mum of two finds it.....!

Cooking this pizza is easy - simply take it out of the plastic/polystyrene wrapping, and put it straight on the oven shelf. Cook at about 200 degrees (it is not an exact science with this pizza, we've cooked them at all sorts of temperatures!), for about 18 minutes, then slice and serve. Simple!

Because this pizza is cheap and is plain, it makes a wonderful pizza base - if you want to get your children involved in the kitchen, why not get them to make additional toppings for their pizzas? Tuna, olives, ham, peanut butter.....you could have an unusual variation on the Four Seasons.....or just sprinkle a bit of extra grated chese on the top, with a few extra herbs or some cracked black pepper, if you want to go for "understated".

If you cook this right, the base is excellent - not too doughy and not too hard. Leave it in the oven too long, or leave it to cool for cold pizza, and you will find the base is tough and hard. You will soon discover your own optimum cooking time based on your own oven.

The tomato sauce is as good as any other I have tasted - sweet and beautifully coloured. No complaints here!

The cheese - well, apart from it being a little sparse on some pizzas, is fine. It melts, it goes a bit stringy, it tastes cheesy......sounds like it is doing the job to me!

All in all, this is a value pizza - you cannot expect restaurant quality for 99p, but in my experience, you can make this 99p item into a most acceptable family meal that everyone will enjoy...and the grocery budget lives to fight another day.

These are in the chiller cabinet, but can be frozen at home. If you cook it from frozen, remember the cooking time will be slightly more than 18 minutes!

Summary: A good standby item for unexpected teenage guests!