My wife was sick a little while back, and nothing sounded good to her. Understandably, this means she didn’t feel like cooking, and I wanted something that we could both possibly eat, so I grabbed this instead of my favorite Mama Cozzi take and bake variety: sausage and pepperoni. I figured that the tomato and mozzarella would keep the flavor a little lighter, while the thin crust would cut back on the heavy starch. She said it sounded good, took a couple of bites, and then got sick later (an event clearly unlinked to this pizza). So much for that. On the plus side, that just means I got to eat the whole thing, spread out over two days.

I have to say that this exceeded both of our expectations, and my wife was actually bummed that she couldn’t keep it down. The tomatoes are juicy and wonderfully flavorful…I’d dare to say that they are pretty close to the taste of “fresh” tomatoes, at least as far as refrigerated, factory-made pizza is concerned. The mozzarella is also good, although I don’t think there has ever been a time in recorded history that mozzarella cheese has ever been less than “good”. The pesto sauce, which is a wise replacement for a tomato-based sauce, is also good, and is also rather generously used.

This obviously won’t replace your favorite local pizza shop that uses only locally-sourced fresh ingredients, and has bizarre toppings like “tuna” on the menu, but my wife and I both agreed that this was equally on par–and in many cases, better than– any similar pizza you can get from a chain pizzeria. The cracker-thin crust also works really well here, keeping it relatively light by cutting out any excessive dough while blessing it with a delicious crunch. It’s one of those rare instances where I can’t see it working nearly as well with a traditional crust.

All in all, this is a pretty good pizza, and at $6, there’s definitely value to be had. While I prefer the taste of thin crust pizzas, I generally lean toward the traditional crusts simply because I feel like you get more for your money, but this is one variety where the cracker-thin crust really helps with the flavor. If you see it, and it is a special buy so you might not, you should definitely pounce on it and see for yourself, assuming you like this kind of thing, of course.

Overall: 8/10. If you’re looking for a nice, meatless pizza variety, Mama Cozzi comes through with her tomato and mozzarella take and bake, which layers on generous helpings of both titular ingredients. The tomatoes are as close to “fresh” as refrigerated tomatoes can be, while the mozzarella is good as always. A nice, homemade flavor for $6? Count me in. The wife, who is much harder to please than I, even agreed that this is on par, and if not better than, similar offerings from the pizza chains. And for around half the price, too! It’s a special buy and not always offered, so if you see it you should be sure to check it out—you probably won’t be disappointed.