So, ok, I do buy jarred spaghetti sauce (which horrifies my Italian cousin-in-law). Sometimes I make my own (usually in summer when I have an abundance of tomatoes), but often I just buy a jar. I buy my store brand for 99 cents a jar. And it’s good. Really good. But I admit I was swayed when I saw Mario Batali was selling his own. And somebody (Real Simple?) declared it the best jarred sauce. And my mom started buying and liking it. So I tried it.

First problem. One jar = $6.99 (yes $6 more per jar than the store brand). I am all for paying for quality, but that’s ridiculous.

I opened the jar and poured it in a bowl. It was really thin.

We ate it with ravioli for dinner one night. No one liked it. At all. It was very acidic and had no natural sweetness to it. It didn’t have a lot of flavor. Comments included “this takes like canned tomato soup” “I can’t eat this” and “Why is this so bad?”

Sorry Mario. It wasn’t a winner at my house. We’ll stick with our store brand for now.

So, ok, I do buy jarred spaghetti sauce (which horrifies my Italian cousin-in-law). Sometimes I make my own (usually in summer when I have an abundance of tomatoes), but often I just buy a jar. I buy my store brand for 99 cents a jar. And it’s good. Really good. But I admit I was … Read more →