Freschetta's new pizzas are winners

Freschetta Brick Oven Frozen Pizza. 5 Italian Cheese, Italian Style Pepperoni, Classic Supreme, Southwest Style Chicken, Roasted Portobella Mushrooms & Spinach, and 3 Cheese & Bacon. $6.79 per 16.65 - to 21.75-ounce box.

Bonnie: When Freschetta first introduced its five-chef Culinary Council, I thought, what a waste of money and talent, because the pizzas the council initially produced didn't even taste as good as Freschetta's originals. The chefs were apparently holding out for the trip to the Italian countryside that enhanced their creativity and produced these fabulous new Brick Oven Frozen Pizzas. (And I'm sure these frozen pizzas would have tasted even better had I eaten them there!)

The 5 Italian Cheese, Southwest Style Chicken, and Roasted Portobella Mushrooms & Spinach have wonderfully crispy crusts and delicious toppings. But the Italian Style Pepperoni is way too greasy, and the addition of cream sauce on the 3 Cheese & Bacon is overkill.

Nutritionally, the Roasted Portobella Mushrooms & Spinach is the winner, with less than 300 calories and only 10 grams of fat for a quarter of the large pie that's also rich in iron and calcium. It's the one I'd suggest trying first.

Carolyn: For once, Bonnie and I agree. Freschetta's Brick Oven Pizzas are terrific, especially the Roasted Portobella Mushrooms & Spinach, with its plethora of complex gourmet flavors (which includes lots of garlic in addition to the mushroom and spinach). But these pizzas taste, chew and even look more like gourmet bruschetta than pizza. That is, although delicious, the crust is breadier than the brick oven pizzas from pizzerias (and I speak from plenty of pleasant experience). And the toppings — with the exception of the expected Supreme and Pepperoni — are more progressive than traditional pizza. These pizzas also share bruschetta's squared-off shape.

Like Bonnie, I stopped buying Freschetta rising-crust pizza after its Culinary Council makeover. But the Culinary Council has redeemed itself with these Brick Oven Frozen Pizzas.

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