A DIGIORNO Pizza Experience

Want to know one of my favorite parts of my job?  Really, there are many parts I love, but one part I’ve enjoyed the most in the 8 years I’ve been blogging is getting up close and personal with brands I know, love, use and work with.  If you follow me on Instagram or Snapchat you may have seen that I recently had the privilege of heading to Solon, Ohio for an informative and fun few days getting to know the people behind the DIGIORNO pizzas my family loves so much.   I’d love to share a little bit about what my experience with a team of “seasoned” pizza professionals was like and the pizza I created. 

Now here’s the thing, DIGIORNO pizza has been making great pizzas for 20 years now!!  A self-rising crust and the freshest mouthwatering toppings paired with a signature sauce is what makes DIGIORNO pizza stand out.  An oven-ready pizza with the fresh-baked taste of carryout and pizzeria pizza in your own oven!  say it with me……”It’s not delivery, it’s DIGIORNO”!  While DIGIORNO has several varieties from stuffed crust to thin crust and everything in between, the Original Rising Crust, which bakes up in 20 minutes, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside has been a favorite in our house for years.  We always have a few in the freezer.

While visiting the DIGIORNO kitchens, we had the opportunity to feast on an array of DIGIORNO pizza baked perfect in ovens just like I have in my home.  Experts at DIGIORNO pizza , like Chris Zelch, a fifth generation baker, are very passionate about creating the best pizzas with only the freshest ingredients.  Every bite was as good as the next, but I did find a new favorite, DIGIORNO pizzeria! Tuscan-Style Chicken pizza.  It was bursting with flavors that I love.

While the DIGIORNO pizzas baked in the ovens, I had the fun opportunity to make a pizza of my own creation with the assistance of DIGIORNO pizza Chef, Mark Morton.  I even had  a little lesson on making pizza crust.

top left and right image credit Nestlé photographer, Pete Gent

Let me start off with this……close your eyes and imagine being in a big warm kitchen, fire roaring in a brick oven, an enthusiastic chef and every topping you could ever imagine putting on a pizza all at your disposal! Next, picture getting in that kitchen, with the passionate chef and creating delicious pizza. If you love pizza as much as I do, you would probably be thrilled. I choose to slather my pizza crust with a garlic olive oil then top it with chicken sausage, bacon, fresh spinach, gorgonzola, mozzarella and seasoned the edge of the crust with a special spice blend.  Mark then showed me a few tips on how to make sure my pizza would slide off the peel (lift and toss a little extra flour under the crust) and let me pop them into the brick oven for baking!  You guys! I want a brick oven at home for baking pizza!  All of the flavors of my pizza filled the kitchen while it baked quickly in the hot oven.  With my piping hot pizzas out of the oven, I presented them to the group and everyone was able to sample my pizza – which was a big hit! Next variety of a DIGIORNO pizza? 😉

It was a fascinating experience, from seeing how they test recipes by making pizza by hand, to extensive taste testing…..did you know you can actually get paid to be a taste tester?!  It was an honor to be welcomed into the DIGIORNO pizza kitchens and embraced by such awesome people who really love what they do, and for filling our bellies with so much great tasting pizza.  You definitely know how to Rise to the Occasion!

Whether you’re watching TV, celebrating Friday, or pretty much doing anything , pizza right from the oven can help you rise to the occasion. All hail DIGIORNO pizza!

Head to DIGIORNO.com to find more pizza varieties, as well as DIGIORNO on Pinterest for more entertaining inspiration.  Follow DIGIORNO on Facebook and Twitter too!

Disclaimer: I have been serving my family DIGIORNO pizza for years.  I’m super excited to have a working partnership with them.  As always, all opinions and views are all my own. Thank you for supporting sponsors that allow me to create new content for Cetcu.