Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Double Deal Of The Day - Stuffed Pastas & Blog Talk Radio Interview

Thanks to Annie & Burl of blogtalkradio for being the perfect host to The 99 Cent Chef last night -- what a fun time. Click here to hear all about it. The Chef's call is taken about 15 minutes into the show and lasts half an hour. Look for the player icon on the right side to pause/play. Or just hit play button below:

Listen to internet radio with Annie and Burl Live on Blog Talk Radio

Italian gold today: the great finds of cheese tortelloni in a tomato cream sauce and mushroom ravioli in a mushroom cream sauce; both frozen entrees made by Bertolli, and each sell for 99.99 cents. Now, a bag of uncooked plain pasta will go for a buck on sale, but a chance to get luscious ricotta cheese-filled pastas with fresh (not dried) flecks of parsley in intensely flavored sauces, and in one pound bags, does not come around enough for this chintzy chef.

The Chef microwaved a serving of each type at his free-lance job yesterday. The stove top is always preferable, but these frozen entrees held up quite well, as the sauce kept the stuffed pasta moist.

First is Mushroom Ravioli in a Mushroom Cream Sauce. The raviolis are plump, not overcooked, and filled with beige-flecked mushroom and ricotta cheese. The savory sauce is intensely fungi flavored with a light milk and cheese combination. But you may have to dig around in the bag to find frozen mushroom slices if you are spreading out the bag over a few servings.

Next up is the Chef's favorite, Cheese Tortelloni in a Tomato Cream Sauce. Combining cream and tomato makes for a tasty and complex sauce. Bertolli gets the balance right -- one does not overpower the other -- and the fat tortellonis have a creamy, sweet ricotta filling. It's a great vegetarian meal.

Now, the Chef does not pay enough attention to the calorie content (sorry ladies), but one of his female workmates paused, grabbed the bag and asked: "How many calories does this bag have?" (reading the back label) "Why I could eat a whole bag, no problem!" I guess that means it's low in calories and fat.

Both Deals of the Day will have your family or friends looking over your shoulder, as the fragrant flavors of cream and real fresh frozen herbs fill the kitchen after a few minutes of heating in the pan. You can easily get a couple of servings per bag. Check out your local 99c only Store for these great Deals of the Day, and definitely get a few 1 lb. bags. This is the store
I picked mine up from. On the Chef's deliciousness scale of 1 to 9, both stuffed pastas get a solid 9!

8 comments:

The Fat Dietitian said...

That is definitely a good find!

Danit said...

OH MY GOD. I wish I lived closer. Too poor to drive to your location but I was visiting two different NoHo locations today and neither had Bertolli pastas. This is clearly a vegetarian's dream (this and the 99cent Boca Chili they've been carrying recently). I'm on a mission now....

99 Cent Chef said...

Don't be discouraged Danit, I'm sure these stuffed pastas will show up in the valley. And I like your blog, nice work, you are cheaper than the chintzy chef!

oddlyme said...

Both of these pastas were at the Pasadena 99¢ on colorado blvd. on Friday, feb. 27th.

A friend said she saw just one bag of 'em at the burbank 99 cents. Hope that helps your quest Danit.

And Billy, keep up the great posts! I wantonly bought 4 bags of the mushroom ravioli's but was concerned about the taste. Reading your review, I feel much better : )

Danit said...

Found it!! The large Noho location on Victory had just restocked a ton of the mushroom ravioli variety when we went by today. You can only imagine my excitement! Even blogged about it. :)

http://ladecostified.blogspot.com/

Thanks for the heads up, Billy!

Pasadena Adjacent said...

I'v got to get to the 99 more often. I miss out on the good. Do you ever purchase stuff that turns out to be horrible. I don't know, say cream cheese soup?

Pasadena Adjacent


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Kristin said...

I've never looked for frozen ravioli before.. I'll keep an eye out!

99 Cent Chef said...

Purchasing stuff that is horrible? Well Palm Axis, that is a tough question, because there are obvious things you know will be bad, just by looking at it! Tomatoes are not the best, however, I've been getting cherry tomatoes which are great, and wine is hit or miss. Remember, you have 9 days to return and I have returned wine.

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