Ranu's Reviews

I remember seeing the commercials of the disgruntled Italian chef and the ridiculous claim that people were staying home to eat Bertolli's frozen meals in a bag instead of going out to restaurants. People are definitely eating out less, but I think it has more to do with the economy than a blasphemous bag of frozen Italian food.

Check Out My Package

At first glance, the package looks like a fancy lunch bag. I have to admit that it is much nicer than the metal King Kong lunch box that I used to sling around in the 70s. There are some pleasing images on the bag and the color choice enhances the main product shot on the front. It really feels like Italy in a bag--well, actually it felt pretty darn cold because it was plucked out of the freezer section!

The curious thing about the package is that there is a big glass of white wine next to the dish of pasta. Is Bertolli's suggesting that the frozen stuff inside this bag is wine worthy? Not that I know anything about wine, but I don't think I would crack it out for an $8.49 meal for two that just came out of my microwave.

Just the (Nutrition) Facts, Ma'am

I tried three different varieties, so all the information is included in the table below.

What's Cooking Good Looking?

The average cooking time for each bag in the microwave was between 9-12 minutes. I think it took me longer to get my daughter to wash her hands than it did to cook this meal. You can cook this in the microwave or in a pan on your stovetop. Of course, I had to try both methods and I can honestly say that there was really no difference in the finished product. If standing by the oven stirring the ingredients relieves your cooking conscience--then go for it! Otherwise, do what I did--get your wife to cook it. Just kidding--well, my wife did technically "cook it," but I think I could have just as easily dumped the frozen contents in a bowl and keyed in 10 minutes on the microwave.

Mangia

Let me tell you something--I think my dead grandmother must be working for Bertolli's because the stuff that came out of that bag is restaurant quality. I'm not talking Gordon Ramsay quality, but this food could easily pass in a lot of restaurants.

Do you remember the Pizza Hut commercials when they came out with pasta? They "secretly" replaced the restaurant food with Pizza Hut's miserable attempt at pasta. Everybody was shocked at how good the Pizza Hut pasta tasted. That commercial was about as realistic as Joan Rivers' face. If Bertolli's Classic Meals were in that same commercial "the customers" reactions would be 100% genuine. I'm telling you that these dinners are believable and extremely tasty!

As I mentioned before, I tried three varieties of Bertolli's Classic Meals: Chicken Florentine & Farfalle, Chicken alla Vodka & Farfalle and Shrimp Scampi & Linguini.

The two chicken dishes were outstanding. I can't believe that the pasta came out perfectly and the creamy sauces were delicious. You are not going to find a better frozen cooked offering than Bertolli's Classic Meals. Fellow pisons should not be ashamed to eat or serve this to company--just hide the bag in the bottom of the garbage bag and none will be the wiser.

I was not that crazy about the Shrimp Scampi & Linguini meal. The sauce came out a little too watery--especially compared to the other two meals. There was way more garlic than shrimp in the bag. For me, the garlic should be tasted--not seen. Now I don't expect everyone to sit there with a razor blade and cut the garlic into transparent slices like they did in "Goodfellas," but the gaggle of garlic in this bag looks like giant white Tic Tacs®. It is probably a good idea to keep a bag of the Shrimp Scampi & Linguini in your freezer just in case you need to ward off an Italian vampire.

The End Result

For $8.49, you can't go wrong with Bertolli's Classic Meals for two. There is probably just enough food for two average people, but I would highly recommend a salad and some bread to complement your meal. You definitely need a little something more with this for two people, but if you are by yourself, this is absolutely perfect for dinner and lunch the next day.

The beauty of this product is that as long as you follow the instructions--it has to be near impossible to mess up and you will have an excellent dinner that you can be proud of--even though you really didn't do anything. In fact, I will even go as far as saying that I think even my cooking-challenged sister could not mess this up. You know dinner is ready in her house when the smoke alarm goes off and I think this might be one meal that my brother-in-law can enjoy without a Mylanta® chaser.

For more product information and a coupon for a $1.00 off, visit Bertolli's web site.