Trader Joe’s Rants & Raves (mostly raves, a few rants)

RAVE

Trader Joe’s ORGANIC RADIATORE pasta is a relatively new addition to the pasta shelves there. They were introduced along with the square rigatoni pasta, which I also gave a great review.

Want to know the translation of “radiatore“? Funny enough it means what it sounds like: “radiator”. Because that’s what these look like. Little radiators.

The shape has all those nooks and crannies which are perfect for taking in and holding a lot of sauce. By the way, did you know the Italian government recognizes about 300 different pasta shapes?

A 1 lb package goes for $1.99. It’s a high quality, bronze die cut pasta, imported from Italy and made from organic durum wheat semolina.

I made this pasta for dinner last night with Trader Joe’s TOMATO BASIL MARINARA sauce (a bargain at $1.99 and it’s excellent). OK, as I am a “cook” and can’t just open a jar and be done with it, I did add two cloves of garlic and a 1/2 shallot sauteed in a tablespoon of olive oil then added a 1/2 jar of the sauce (for two portions). Trust me it made it even better but you could go the easy route and just open a jar.

These radiatore cook pretty fast due to shape, in about 9 minutes. I probably took them out a minute before that (ie, pre-al dente) as I would cook them more in the sauce. I dumped the drained pasta into my pan with my sauce, added about a 1/4 of the pasta water, tossed them over and over for about a minute to let them marry and absorb some sauce till al dente.

I was going to serve peas on the side but as I was making this, my wife suggested I just toss everything in together. Which was actually a great idea as the peas add a nice flavor and texture and got into the nooks of the radiatore. Grated on some of my favorite TJ ROSEMARY ASIAGO which I especially love with pasta.

The texture and taste of this radiatore pasta was perfect and we really loved this dish we came up with “radiatore with peas in tomato sauce” which can now go into rotation. Try this combo! Super easy and delicious, not to mention a bit healthier with added vegetable protein. A little salad and bread made it all perfect.

The best thing? Pantry meal. Everything came out of the pantry (and freezer) so a perfect idea for when “you don’t have anything” in the fridge.

Delicious easy dinner for two, which probably cost less than 3 bucks.

Equally good would be the simplest pasta using this radiatore; just Butter and Cheese. Use lots of both.

I would buy these again. — (UPDATE: I looked for them today to buy more and didn’t see them on the shelves…. )

PASTA WITH PEAS recipe (pasta al piselli)

Toss your pasta into salted boiling water. Whatever time it says on the package, you will subract one or two minutes for “pre-al dente”. In a pan or pot, put a tablespoon of olive oil, and a nice pat of butter. (optional) Add 2 cloves of sliced garlic, and cook till golden. You could also add in 1/2 shallot too if you have one, or a 1/4 onion.

Add your favorite jarred (or homemade) sauce to the pan. When the pasta is “pre-al dente” (tests a little hard) add that to the pan and cook, adding in some pasta water (1/4 cup?). Toss in some frozen peas (1/2-1 cup as you wish) Toss everything over and over to mix and cook for about a minute or so, cooking the pasta just till it becomes al dente. That means “to the tooth” just after the pasta is no longer hard to bite and not soft or mushy. Italians hate overcooked pasta.

Plate and top with a nice amount of freshly grated ASIAGO cheese (or Parmagiano or Pecorino) and serve. Bread and a salad will round this out nicely into a dinner

Portions: for two people I usually figure about a 1/2 lb (half the package) pasta, and for sauce about a 1/2 jar but your ratio may vary. Again, Italians like just enough sauce to coat the pasta well but not to have pasta swimming in sauce the way most Americans think you make it.