Review Number Two - Mara's Linguine

Mara's linguine in the pot

We had three types of pasta given to us for review by Mara (and you could win a box of pasta as well - see the contest link below!), and so I decided I would try three different recipes with them. The second of the pastas to be reviewed was the linguine. I will admit that, going into this, I thought the linguine would be our number one favorite. Our family loves linguine, and I took the opportunity to make alfredo sauce and steam up fresh broccoli. Topped with fresh roasted chicken and parmesan, I didn't think there was any way for this one not to be a winner!

We didn't have time to make fresh home-made pasta to go with this meal, and that was okay. This test was less about ranking Mara against our pasta, than it was about making a quick dinner that was also healthy and enjoyable by the family. We all have those moments when we'd rather do anything but cook, and boxed pasta solves a lot of those dilemmas in our family. I paired Mara's up against a regular, durham wheat based pasta from the store.

The two pastas

The white spaghetti was ... well, it was store bought spaghetti. It was soft, uniform, smooth, and largely tasteless. Mara's linguine was rustic and rough in texture, and had a very strong wheat flavor that was not unpleasant, but completely overwhelmed the delicate sauce. The alfredo sauce was not "big" enough to compete with the whole wheat noodles, and so the result was not as happy a combination as I had hoped it would be. Almost everyone at the table agreed that, despite being plain old store bought, the white spaghetti won this particular competition.

The boy loved it!

ALMOST everyone agreed, though, meaning it was not unanimous. Our seven year old (autistic!) son thought it was really good, and chowed down on it, even going back for seconds. He knows that a lot of store bought stuff makes his autism worse, and so when he could see that there was only one (good) ingredient in the Mara's pasta, I think he relaxed enough to really enjoy it. Of course, he likes most pastas as a rule, anyhow. Still, he gave the linguine two enthusiastic thumbs up, where the rest of us were more luke-warm about it.

Linguine with afredo sauce

It was not a total loss, though. Because we did not eat the entire pot of linguine, someone took it for lunch the next day so as not to waste it. Paired with the leftovers of the spaghetti sauce from our last taste test, I was informed the Mara's linguine was much better. It seems that a very strong flavored or textured sauce is needed for the linguine to really stand up as a good noodle, at least in our home. It was good to get the feedback last night, though!

Our next taste test was a huge surprise, and a pleasant one. Read early next week to find out what our family's opinion is of the Mara's bowtie (farfalle) pasta!

Mara's Pasta can be found in the following places:

Mara's Pasta Home Page: http://www.maraspasta.com/
Mara's Pasta Online Store: http://www.maraspasta.com/products-page/
Mara's Pasta email subscription: http://bit.ly/TdMwfX
Mara's Pasta Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/MarasPasta
Mara's Pasta Twitter page: https://twitter.com/#!/MarasPasta
Mara’s Pasta Pinterest board: http://pinterest.com/maraspasta/

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer: Mara's Pasta provided me with a free sample of this product to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose. Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway in return for the free product.

Shared at the Homestead Barn Hop #96 (click here to enter).

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