“This ‘pink sauce’ really delivers on flavor….Our supplier in Italy sources all of their dairy from the Piedmont region—a region renowned for its milk and cheeses. They start with a cream & milk blend, to which they add a short list of ingredients, including tomato paste, onion & garlic purées, basil, oregano, and Grana Padano.“
Trader Joe’s ORGANIC PAPPARDELLE PASTA NESTS. Imported from Italy
“Boils into toothsome bundles of sauce holding pasta”
INGREDIENTS: Organic Durum Semolina
I really like these little pappardelle “birds nests” noodles. When I want to impress people, I make these with a terrific sauce. The dish will always get a rave.
Looking at the rough texture on the exterior of the pasta, you can instantly see they are extruded on bronze dies, which top pasta maker’s use. Made for Trader Joe’s by an artisan Italian pasta company (“…one of the most highly-regarded pasta makers in Italy”) Trader Joe’s says the company also mill their “own local, organic, durum wheat semolina themselves”. Yes these are pricier than most of the pastas at Trader Joe’s however you can pretty much see these are “super premium”. I’m sure they would cost at least double what TJ’s sells them for at some high end market under a premium Italian brand name.
They cook up into a wonderful soft toothsome noodle which almost seem like an egg noodle, but they are just semolina. These noodles really take incredibly well to any sauce you can think of to serve with them. I especially like them with a hearty meaty sauce like a Ragu or Bolognese. They go great with TJ’s frozen “MUSHROOM MEDLEY”. They work for “spaghetti and meatballs” instead of the spaghetti, or with Cacio e Pepe, or Alfredo or a Carbonara sauce. Or add them to a soup.
For a really simple fast pasta in a pinch just toss the noodles with good butter and Parmigiano and black pepper for a simple yet sublime pasta.
When making these I usually allow about 2 nests per person/portion. “Boil gently for 12-13 minutes”. They used to be $3.49 but now sell for $3.99 for the huge bag (17.6 oz) TIP: I’ve even used these noodles making Chinese/Asian noodle dishes!
“They’re brought to us by one of the most highly-regarded pasta makers in Italy, who doesn’t just put in the hard work of crafting each batch of Pappardelle Pasta Nests into the tender, delectable noodles that they are — they also mill their very own local, organic, durum wheat semolina to do so.”
“Bowtie shaped pasta from Italy with sauce holding ridges and toothsome texture”
NEW ITEM: Trader Joe’s “artisan” organic pasta “Farfalle Rigate”, bow-tie pasta. Unlike the other regular non-artisan one they sell, this organic artisan version comes with ridges. Ridges hold sauce a bit better. This pasta is bronze die cut. The recommended cooking time is 10-11 minutes.
When I made it I did find it had a nice toothsome texture, and was a little better than the regular one ($1.29).
Trader Joe’s says “limited supplies” of this, so if you see it and are interested pick up a bag. Trader Joe’s ORGANIC FARFALLE RIGATE PASTA is $1.99 for 1 lb. I would buy it again.
“In addition to providing an even more satisfyingly toothsome texture (especially when cooked al dente), these ridges also make their bronze-die-cut Farfalle Rigate that much better at holding our Basil Pesto, Creamy Tomato Basil Pasta Sauce, or any other pasta sauce you choose to toss them in. While we find that they’re especially suited for richer, creamier sauces, the truth is, you really can’t go wrong with Farfalle of this quality. Even just a bit of your favorite TJ’s olive oil, minced garlic, and crushed red chili peppers will make a fantastic Farfalle aglio e olio.”
Trader Joe’s has a few different varieties of jarred pestos, sold near the pasta sauces. The first jarred pesto I had tried was the standard classic, basil pesto, Pesto Genovese, which I found decent. They later came out with a red version of that they called “pesto rosso” which was just OK for me however I see it’s popular and sometimes even sold out, so people seem to like it. Here’s another one based on olives.
If you are a fan of olives as I am, you may like this latest addition to the pesto’s they have. This new addition is called “Olive and Basil Pesto Sauce” with olives as the first ingredient. You get more “olive” than “basil” flavor so basically I say think of this as an olive tapenade with a hint of basil. Its a chunky paste of chopped olives plus other ingredients and its just chock full of umami. I tasted it on a spoon right out of the jar and thought this is like a tapenade and liked it.
I tried this olive pesto first just mixing it into cooked spaghetti and thought that yes, just mixing this with pasta will make a decent tasty pasta. I added some fresh garlic too and that of course this made it even better. Finish the pasta with some good olive oil too while you are at it (I suggest adding both the garlic and EVOO) Finally top with fresh grated cheese (Parmigiano, Pecorino, or Grana) and voila, you will have a very easy and quite tasty dish.
Next I tried this olive pesto as an ingredient with other things. I mixed a few generous tablespoons of this into some fresh tomato pasta sauce I had made and found it made it even tastier with the extra umami boost it got from olives. If you are using a jarred sauce you could just put a spoon of this on the finished pasta too. You could also put this on say fish or shrimp or grilled chicken to jazz it up a bit. As this is an olive tapanade and made for bread, I tried just putting this on good bread and of course it was quite good that way too. This will work great for making bruschetta, put a nice amount on some lightly toasted bread. This is decent olive tapanade, especially if you add in fresh garlic and EVOO. Chop up some fresh basil and you will really be going in the right “homemade taste” direction. The label has that this is a Product of Greece, where of course they have lots of olives.
TJ’s Olive Pesto is $2.49 a 6 oz jar. Its quite useful to have in your pantry. I would buy it again.
Seen at Trader Joe’s : NEW ITEM – Italian Artisan Organic Striped Farfalline (Bowtie)
Very colorful, from natural coloring’s. It has paprika, turmeric, beet and spinach. I think these would be great for a pasta salad for one thing? $3.49 for a 16oz bag. But then these are Organic and Artisanal.
“Farfalline is Italian for “little butterflies,” and these Farfalline certainly resemble their namesake. Each butterfly- like bowtie sports either green and orange stripes or red and yellow stripes—all from organic, plant-derived sources, including paprika, turmeric, spinach, and beet root powders. Cooked al dente, this Pasta becomes a proverbial canvas for an array of colorfully captivating meals. Cook Farfalline in boiling water for 8-9 minutes, then drain, and toss with Organic Roasted Red Pepper and Almond Pesto Sauce, Creamy Tomato Basil Pasta Sauce, or Cajun Style Alfredo Sauce for a quick and quite tasty pasta pairing. If pasta salads are your creative outlet, consider adding some Farfalline flair to your picnic fare all summer long.”
Everybody now knows that San Marzano Tomatoes are considered the ultimate canned tomatoes to make an Italian dish. Trader Joe’s came out with these that are “Marzanino tomatoes” (little Marzano) which I guess are in the same family but smaller than the standard San Marzano and possibly sweeter. The can has the small tomatoes in juice, cooked and peeled and ready to use in a dish. I usually get down and dirty and just dump them into a bowl and crush them up with my fingers to prep them for cooking in a sauce or dish.
These tomatoes were very tasty and a little sweet. They are great for making any tomato sauce or dish that calls for tomatoes, including pizza. I did make pizza using these as my fresh sauce. After crushing the tomatoes with my fingers, I used this as my fresh tomato sauce for my own version of a pizza Margherita, with fresh basil and mozzarella. The finished pizza came out terrific*. “Product of Italy” $2.99 a can.
*(Pizza dough – I made my own from scratch but if that’s too much for you, just buy the bag of fresh pizza dough from TJ’s ($1.49) – or you can use the ready to bake rectangular pizza crust there in the breads section.
“Pappardelle is a hearty noodle with many uses. Traditionally this hearty noodle is served with high-flavor chunky sauces made from game or pork… We like it with a robust Bolognese. It’s perfect for soaking up the flavorful juices of a pot roast and an ideal noodle for soups…”
Trader Joe’s Pappardelle noodles are good, hearty Italian egg noodles. These are especially perfect with robust chunky sauces, like a ragu Bolognese. A bag is $1.99 (8 oz). Here’s what I learned from making these a few times. To bring out the best of these noodles I suggest you don’t just cook them and put them on a plate and top with sauce. If you are just serving these with butter and cheese that’s OK to do. But if you are serving with a sauce (Bolognese maybe?) these will taste best if you finish cooking them in the sauce for a minute or two at the very end. Meaning pull them out of the water at about 4 or 5 minutes, drain (but not too thoroughly) and finish cooking them with 1/2 your sauce till they are al dente (save a little of the cooking water, which you can add to get the sauce consistency you want). Again grab them after about 4 minutes of boiling, throw them into a pan with about 1/2 cup of sauce per portion, cook and toss gently for a minute or two, until the noodles are cooked to your liking. The noodles will absorb the sauce and all the flavors, and make for a very hearty dish (see my dish, served with some asparagus as a side). Top with a bit more of your (reserved) sauce and a little grating of Parmesan.
Pappardelle with Bolognese sauce is made for each other so that’s definitely a combo you should think of for these noodles. If not a homemade ragu Bolognese you can easily use Trader Joe’s TURKEY BOLOGNESE “just sauce”. I can’t say it’s great, but it’s decent if you don’t want to make your own (see my easy turkey ragu bolognese recipe below)
RECIPE – FAST & EASY TURKEY BOLOGNESE: Brown up a pound of ground turkey (optionally you can use ground beef, or mix of 1/2 pound each ground beef and pork, or Impossible meat for that matter). Sauté on high heat in a tablespoon of EVOO. Once the meat is browned nicely add 4 cloves of crushed fresh garlic, 1/2 a chopped onion (optional: a grated carrot) and turn down to medium heat. Add a spoon of wine, balsamico or just water to deglaze the bottom of the pan scraping up any bits. Saute on low covered for about 3 minutes then add a can of ROASTED TOMATOES (with or without chiles). Rinse out the the can 1/4 to 1/2 way full with milk. Add that in. Season to taste with salt, pepper and Italian herbs. Simmer on low for 20 minutes. Serve the sauce with a hearty noodle like Pappardelle.
This shape, “Gigli” is sometimes also called “Campanelle” (tower) a twisty corkscrew shape with a frilly edge. This is one of TJ’s premium pastas that go for a bit more than the regular Organic pastas they carry. This one goes for $2.99 for a 1.1 lb bag, a premium price but its a premium pasta. This is a high quality Organic Pasta made in Italy by a premium manufacturer. You can note by the closeup of the pasta, it has that rough exterior indicating it’s bronze die cut and the lighter color indicating it’s slow dried, like the best Italian pastas you might find at a specialty Italian grocery – and which probably sell for double or more than this.
The cook time is only 5-7 minutes and I would stop it at a minute under Al Dente for finishing with a sauce (which means maybe around 4 minutes). I cooked this pasta with a sauce of sautéed fresh cherry tomatoes, garlic, olive oil and feta cheese and everyone seemed to love it. My only minor complaint is when it was cooked some of the frilly edges detached into little stringy things, which look a bit weird but again this a very minor complaint. Taste wise this is another excellent quality pasta from Trader Joe’s. This corkscrew shape will be good with any sauce especially any sauce that will get into every nook and cranny of this shape. Though I haven’t tried it yet for CACIO E PEPE, I have a feeling they would be good with each other
RECIPE – EASY CHERRY TOMATO AND FETA CHEESE PASTA
Put up a large pan of salted water to boil for the pasta. In a large sauté pan, cook about 12-16 oz of cherry tomatoes (sliced in half) in a good amount of olive oil on med-high heat until the tomatoes start to soften up, about 5-7 minutes. Throw in about 4-5 cloves of minced garlic and cook for another few minutes and at the same time, I push the tomatoes to the side and put a good amount of FETA cheese cut into cube on the other side of the pan and cook on medium heat until they start to brown a little bit. Turn off the heat. Cook the pasta; check it for about a minute underal dente and toss the drained pasta into the pan with the sauce adding about a ladle of the pasta water. Cook for one minute until al dente and mix it all together. Top with a bit of more grated cheese (Parm, Pecorino, or Asiago), some fresh ground pepper and plate it up. Enjoy!
Traditional Italian pasta is made with only two ingredients, durum wheat semolina flour and water—a small amount of softer wheat flour is allowed by law, but Trader Joe’s Organic Italian Artisan Gigli Pasta is crafted with 100% organic durum wheat semolina sourced from farms in Puglia. Our supplier has been producing artisan-made pasta for more than 35 years. Most dried pasta are made in huge batches and dried quickly, from three to 12 hours. This Artisan Pasta is made in small batches, and dried at much lower temperatures for up to 24 hours, resulting in a more rustic texture that cooks to a delightfully al dente texture. Gigli, also known as Campanelle (translates to “bellflowers” or “little bells”), has a ruffled edge and hollow center, so it holds any sauce extremely well. Marinara? Carbonara? Just a bit of olive oil and shaved Parmesan? Any of these will do, deliciously.
Breaded deep fried ravioli? Doesn’t that sound a bit over the top? Still when I saw these, I was intrigued and thought I would give them a try. Well I have to say they are quite good, better than I expected them to be. First I should say we almost always try to “eat healthy”. I rarely eat fried anything. So frankly deep fried breaded ravioli is not something I normally eat or buy on a regular basis but hey this is the job, and reviews have to be done 😉
Having now tried them, I can tell you these fried ravioli are actually pretty yummy. The two of us totally enjoyed eating these, as a rare treat. I could see these as something you could serve once in a blue moon in small portions, say 4 or 5 ravioli, as a side or as an appetizer? They might be even be a tasty and easy treat to serve up as an hors d’oeuvre for company. One recommended method to make these is to Pan Fry them which is what I did. I used less than a tablespoon of olive oil, where as the directions say, oil a 1/4 inch deep. I don’t think you need more than a tablespoon or two of oil in a non-stick or cast iron pan. TJ’s says they are good done in an air fryer too. Once the ravioli looked crispy and golden brown, I drained them on a paper towel. The breaded ravioli were delicious, a little crispy on the outside and when you bite into them, full of soft melted cheese inside (5 kinds of cheese). Naturally these will be perfect with a bit of your favorite tomato sauce (fresh basil if you have), and they were delicious when I served them with some sauce and a sprinkle of Parmesan. So give these a try if they sound good to you. A package (1 lb) is $3.99. They can be found in the frozen section…. Trader Joe’s says…
“Each Breaded Fried Ravioli starts as a stately square of semolina pasta, filled with a mouth-watering mix of five kinds of cheese: creamy ricotta, mild Monterey Jack, rich mozzarella, savory Asiago, and piquant Parmesan. These Ravioli are then battered and deep fried to perfection, then flash frozen for you to finish the job at home. Once prepared (we find an air fryer to be particularly suited for the job), they’re everything a cheesy appetizer should be: warm, gooey, and phenomenally cheesy, with a crispy, savory exterior—a little like a breaded mozzarella stick, taken to the next level.”
“A creamy, cheesy pasta sauce made wth Pecorino Romano and Black Pepper”
Cacio e Pepe means “cheese and pepper” and is a classic Roman pasta. Trader Joe’s Cacio e Pepe Pasta Sauce has been getting a lot of buzz since they released it, so I had to give it a try. You know what? It is pretty good. The fettucine cacio e pepe dish I made with this sauce turned out really tasty. Making a dish with this could not be easier, just combine this sauce with your cooked pasta. That does not mean just dump a ladle of sauce on top of the pasta though. Americans seem to serve pasta like this, which makes Italians cringe. Italians always finish cooking pasta with the sauce together for the last minute or so to blend the flavors. As it comes right out of the jar TJ’s C&P sauce is really, really thick. A few big spoons go a long way. So would not even think of using say the whole jar to make just 2 portions – or even 4. The Nutrition label suggests this 14.5 oz jar “makes 7 servings” so you use that as a rough guide, but let’s round it out and say a jar will make about 6 portions. My basic suggestion is try maybe 2 or 3 heaping Tablespoons of sauce per portion of pasta, which you will thin later with a little pasta cooking water to get the consistency you like to coat the pasta but not drown it in sauce, Italian style. Italians never drown pasta so it’s swimming in sauce, it’s coated generously, in just the right proportions of sauce to pasta. Italians also finish cooking pasta, with some sauce and never just pour it over naked pasta. TIP: Try making this with any of TJ’s excellent Artisan Organic Pasta varieties(spaghetti, fettuccine, etc) Of course any shaped pasta such as Ziti or Farfalle will work well with this type of creamy sauce too. You could even do a pan fried Gnocchi perhaps with this sauce. TJ’s made the sauce “bulletproof” with the addition of cornstarch which prevents separation. Sure they are saving on some of the ingredients for example using sunflower oil and not olive oil. Don’t worry you will fix that when you plate it with some Good Stuff.
Be sure to have a piece of Pecorino cheese, as well as fresh black peppercorns (grinder) on hand. These few additions will help make this jarred sauce taste way better. Have a pan big enought to hold the pasta ready with your C&C sauce in it. Boil the pasta, and drain it when it’s about a minute UNDER al dente (save 3/4 cup pasta water). Finish cooking the pasta with the C+C sauce for one minute or until the pasta is cooked perfectly al dente. While you are tossing it to coat, add pasta water a few tablespoons at a time as needed, mixing it all up with tongs to incorporate pasta and sauce until you get your desired consistency fully coating pasta generously but not swimming with a lot of extra liquid. Plate it on warm dishes and quickly add a few touches. Some freshly grated Pecorino, a few grinds of black or rainbow pepper, and a drizzle of good EVOO. I topped it with a wee bit of chopped arugula for color. I know a Roman would protest that or any addition to the 2 basic cacio and pepe ingredients of cheese and pepper. If you wanted to use a little grated Parmigiano or Grana Padano, they will be delicious but again don’t tell your Roman friend who will so “only Pecorino Romano is allowed” on Cacio e Pepe! It says on the jar, that once opened, use it within 3 days. I didn’t want to have it again so soon so I figured I would simply put the jar (carefully ) in the freezer. The following week I did an overnight defrost in the fridge which worked fine keeping this sauce intact and I then made another meal with the remainder.
As far as what shape and kind of pasta to use with this sauce TJ’s has so many good ones including the ORGANIC and ARTISANAL pastas. You pretty much can’t go wrong with any of your favorite pastas.
Now you can even use this sauce for other things besides pasta. You could use it on vegetables (perhaps roasted brussel sprouts, or potatoes, or on top of asparagus?) Or with eggs, on top or even mixed into some scrambled eggs or on an omelette….
A 14.5 oz jar of TJ’s Cacio e Pepe sauce costs $3.49.
So while this sauce is handy I am all for making a real Cacio e Pepe from scratch once in a while. Cacio E Pepe is only two ingredients and that’s where the magic happens getting it to emulsify (and not become gloppy). You may have to make it a few times to get the hang of it but once you do, you will really get a great deal of pleasure from making it yourself no doubt. I liked this guy’s take on making it (tip: don’t use very hot water to mix with the grated cheese to make the emulsion and don’t let the cheese boil, just get it warmed up so it doesn’t break) A teaspoon of cornstarch slurry makes this foolproof BTW., and in fact the Trader Joe Cacio e Pepe sauce has cornstarch in it to make it bulletproof as well. If you get into Cacio E Pepe and want to try to make the sauce yourself yourself, watch these two pro’s, absorb some of their ideas and I bet you will end up with a terrific authentic Cacio e Pepe. Buon Appetito!
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