May the cheapest pasta win! That's what happened, anyway, when New York convened a panel to sample different store-bought, dried pasta. At 99 cents a pound, TJ's was the least expensive pasta of the bunch, and it beat out some very fancy brands. Which grocery store staple came in last? Read on...
To be fair, the taste testers (three chefs from very high-end Italian restaurants in New York, plus one actor from the Sopranos) ate dried spaghetti, not the Trader Joe's Anelletti pasta above, which Faith loves for this recipe: Dinner Quick: Anelletti Pasta with Sausage and Greens.
But we're confident that TJ's pasta in any shape would hold its own against other brands. It beat Setaro, which, according to the article, is what many chefs use. It costs $7 for 35 ounces. Maybe restaurants can start cutting costs by shopping at Trader Joe's instead.
So what mainstream brand came in last? That would be Barilla.
• Go read the article: Last Noodle Standing, from New York
Related: Dry Pasta vs. Fresh Pasta: What's the Difference?
(Image: Faith Durand)
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Comments (11)
Alas, TJs discontinued their anelletti... :-(
No TJs, so my favourite is Rustichella. Was just clearing out the pasta shelf, and scored a few remainders of it (they don't sell it here in Switzerland -- have to try to find some in Turin).
I definitely like all of TJ's pasta, and Whole Foods 365 is good too. Kind of surprised Barilla was so low, but I only use their no-boil lasagna noodles.
I read the article in New York, went to Trader Joe's a few days later and there was only spagetti left! The pasta shelves were completely cleared out!
And if that wasn't annoying enough, the spaghetti was marked up - it was not $0.99!
There is no TJ near me so when I travel to a city where there is one I will save room in my suitcase for vitamins, fruit leather and pasta.
@bobcatsteph3 - all lasagna can be 'no boil'. since you bake lasagna for so long, it easily cooks any standard dry lasagna pasta. just make sure that your sauce isn't too dry.
I like TJs pastas but my favorite is the Barilla Plus (with fiber and omega three, but somehow manages to have excellent flavor and no gummy texture!)
I like it better than any standard pasta brand, and certainly better than plain Barilla.
TJ has a good multigrain pasta with flax. It was on sale recently and I stocked up. I bought the spaghetti which I found less tasty than the other shapes for whatever reason.
I found the comments on the article funny. I had no idea there was such pasta snobs. We always stock up on pasta at TJ's when we visit friends in MA. I did notice the cooking times on the bags are lower than most other boxed pasta I've bought and I usually subtract a minute or so from those times anyway. I wonder though if that's why some of commenters on the New York site find it pasty.
I find the TJ's brand to be strangely sweet. I tried to like it, but failed again and again.
However, I LOVE the multigrain pasta with flax (mentioned by PNWGal). I was so sad when they discontinued it. That sale was warehouse liquidation. I also stocked up. Buying over 20 packages of pasta raised some eyebrows.
$6.95 per pound is "mid-priced" pasta? On what planet?
I wish they had tested a few more mainstream brands -- De Cecco in particular has done well in a lot of other tastings.