Ronzoni Bistro - Pasta for Rich People

A few weeks ago, New World Pasta’s PR guys asked me to collaborate with them on the release of Ronzoni Bistro pasta. Recognizing an opportunity for free food, I accepted.

They sent me one of each flavor: Penne with Chicken and Broccoli, Linguine with Chicken and Mushrooms, Rotini with Tomato and Basil, and Spaghetti and Meatballs. Here’s my review:

Pros:

• Very quick - 90 seconds.
• Very tasty - essentially restaurant quality in a bag. Rotini with Tomato and Basil tasted just like a rotini dish I ordered in Italy back in April. The cream-based sauces in the Penne and Linguine were good, but I am more of a tomato-based person.

Cons:

• EXPENSIVE. MSRP $2.79 for a 210-240 calorie bag of pasta.
• No larger size for a better value.
• You can’t easily eat the pasta right out of the microwaveable bag, thus adding either a paper plate to a landfill, or a real plate to the mass of crap under your bed that you don’t ever clean. A tray would definitely be better.

Strange:

• On the directions it says, “For best results, knead pasta halfway through cooking.” I tried this and almost burnt my fingers. The bag is TOO HOT to knead barehanded. Grab a sock, I guess.

I believe what happened here is a product was conceived for business people on-the-go and the dorm-bound college student was an afterthought. Sure, it might make sense to pull one of these out of your gator-skin briefcase, but definitely not your red, gray, and black Nike backpack from 1984.

Eating one of these for lunch every day would cost you 10 times as much and only give you 33-50% of the energy. Who knows, though. If you are going to spend 3-5 dollars on lunch every day anyway, this could be a good option for somebody trying to cut back on his/her caloric intake.

They currently have a dollar-off coupon at their website.

In short, if you want this some of this expensive, tasty pasta, then tell your parents. They can afford it.