We love pasta in our house. It’s one of those foods that can always be found in the cabinet because it’s easy to make. CJ eats gluten free pasta and everyone else eats regular pasta. We each definitely have our favorite sauces but we like to try new ones too. This past week I got the opportunity to try two new Ragu Old World Style sauces – Sweet Tomato Basil and Margherita.
Let me begin by asking this. Did you know that there is a full serving of vegetables in every half-cup of Ragu sauce?
I was able to easily find the Sweet Tomato Basil, so that’s the one we tried first. My husband questioned my sanity on the evening we tried this one. See, on that night I still wasn’t able to eat anything so I ate three spoons of the sauce like soup. He thought I’d gone off my rocker. RB and the boys had the sauce over pasta. We all enjoyed this flavor. There wasn’t an overabundance of basil, a spice we don’t mind in moderation but don’t care for in abundance. (You know how basil tastes when there’s too much, yech.)
The Margherita took me a little longer to find as Shop Rite didn’t have it. Fortunately, Stop & Shop did. By this time I had begun my “mush” diet – pasta is still a no-no and a ways off for me. So I got creative and tried the sauce on my mashed potatoes. Hubby and the boys had it over ziti. Three of us shared the same thoughts on this one, it didn’t do anything for us. It’s not that it was bad. I found it just too bland. TJ called it weak. RB said it needed some spice. CJ didn’t seem to mind it. I’ve had Margherita pizza and enjoyed it, maybe this sauce would be better suited for something like that.
If you visit the Ragu site you’ll find lots of nutritional, time management and parenting tips offered by people such as Food Network’s Robin Miller and Registered Dietician Sylvia Klinger. You’ll also find recipes and a tool that allows search of recipes by ingredient.
Thanks to Mom Central for this opportunity!
Jo
Wednesday 26th of October 2011
The new Rago sauces, well, suck, in my opinion. I couldn't care less if they have two servings of vegetables. Where's the flavor? My mom and I have been trying to find something that's somewhat close to Ragu's old sauce recipe. The best I've found so far is Walmart's brand, but it's still a far cry.
I've also started making spaghetti sauce from scratch. Pomi strained tomatoes has been a real timesaver. It comes in a box in the canned vegetable section. Made some sauce just yesterday. Very simple: sautee 4 to 6 cloves of garlic in a bit of olive oil till tender. Then add the tomatoes and some salt to taste. Now simmer for 20 minutes with a covered lid. Remove from heat and add either some oregano or some basil, depending on your preference. (Also a little sugar if you like a sweeter taste.) That's it.