The Product
PC’s Black Label Arugula Pasta Sauce (no link, it appears not to be online) is made with hand-harvested sweet Italian tomatoes, olive oil, onions, fresh arugula and garlic. Very basic. Very easy for me to be unimpressed and bored. But, as always, I keep an open mind while product testing.
The Reveal
Last week President’s Choice sent me a mystery box. A grab bag of very cool items to review. You can see them all here. If you watch the video you will see my wary response of the sauce not just for me but for Reg. He is not a fan of arugula!
Product Testing
According to the directions you just heat and serve. That does not sound very appetizing. So… I decided to actually make a pasta dish with it! Sometimes “simple directions” are no help at all.
I did not want to change the flavour of the sauce too much but I did want a substantial dinner from this jar of sauce. I browned some ground beef and sautéed mushrooms. I seasoned them both with salt and pepper and then added the sauce.
I heated the sauce (as instructed, LOL) until it was nice and bubbly. I personally thought the strands of arugula throughout looked fascinating but had a nagging sensation in my hungry tummy that Reg would not be so appreciative of the foodie aesthetics.
I wanted something other than traditional spaghetti so I cooked some cavatappi pasta and tossed it with the sauce before serving.
If you follow me on Facebook you would know that I was originally going to make the dish with the Black Label Nero di Seppia black noodles they also included in the package. (You can watch that part of the video here where I freak out over them.)
I was already wary that Reg would like the sauce. When I took a whiff of the pasta, it smelled a little seafood-y and I was not in the mood to make two dinners so I stuck with a more traditional pasta but don’t you worry, I will be testing those noodles soon!
Foodie Results
I have yet to make a homemade pasta sauce from scratch that I like. Usually it is too bitter, too sweet, too boring… Which is why I am so impressed with the Black Label Arugula Pasta Sauce. It was perfectly balanced. Pure. Simple. Elegant. Everything true Italian cooking is supposed to be.
I liked the texture of the arugula although I do not think it added much in the way of flavour. It made it feel more earthy and authentic to me. Sadly, Reg disagreed. He doesn’t like unnecessarily messy food and did not find it pleasant to eat. Which I knew was going to happen. He also found the sauce “just OK” and said my sauce (which is not made with hand-picked Italian tomatoes) was way better.
If you are going to take the time to make something special like homemade ravioli, but have yet to find the right homemade sauce to go with it, this one would do your foodie efforts proud. I give this product four out of five wooden spoons.
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