The pros: Trader Joe's Organic Italian Artisan Pasta Capunti is a new and tasty pasta in a fun shape.
The cons: Other than the fun shape, there was nothing stand out about this pasta.
The verdict: If you've been reading this blog for a while, then you know that I have reviewed quite a few pasta. Most of them are basic pasta. The seasonal selections were fun shaped, but at the end of the day were just pasta. My standout choices will always be the Lemon Pepper Pappardelle, Spinach and Chive Linguine, and the Basil and Garlic Pasta. While all three are a bit pricey, they all had distinct flavor that you would be hard pressed to get anywhere else.
Recently, store shelves have been graced with a new tomato sauce: Trader Joe's Italian Marinara with Barolo Wine. Clearly, if you are going to introduce a mouthwatering sauce, then you'll need some new pastas. Specifically they now have Gigli which is a bell shaped pasta, Orecchiette or little ears, and this Capunti which looks like an emptied pea pod.
Now, if you've been following along with my other dry pasta reviews, I've noticed one major item in common. Frequently, the cooking directions are off. Sometimes way off. Here I am glad to say they're pretty close. If you go by directions alone, then you should probably let this go the full 15 minutes for al dente.
Now, I always sample my pasta. At 12 minutes, I thought these were done by nibbling on the end. I looked at the bite and realized I had a U-shaped layer of undercooked pasta. I kept checking ever 1-2 minutes. At 15 they seemed like they were al dente edible. The difficulty with this shape is that parts will seem undercooked while others will be very much over cooked. Where these are open revealing the inside tasted a bit mushy to me. Meanwhile, the bottom was what I was waiting for.
For $2.69 you get organic artisan pasta that tastes just like pasta. Nothing standout, nothing terrible either. You are mostly paying for the non so standardized shape here. They look handmade. However, in terms of buying this again, this is a one and done for me. It was ok, but nothing stand out for the price. It does hold sauce quite well though.
Here is the visual run down of what you get if you buy this product:
The bag of Trader Joe's Organic Italian Artisan Pasta Capunti:
Cooking directions and the nutritional information:
The ingredients:
After being cooked you get:
Would I buy this again? No, I would not buy Trader Joe's Organic Italian Artisan Pasta Capunti again.
Want to see more items I've reviewed from Trader Joe's? Click on Thoughts & Reviews of Trader Joe’s for a searchable list.
Did you try it? Let me know what you think in the comments section!
Alek says
TJ's should experiment with unique flavors. Maybe chicken flavored noodles. A fun twist on it. Just add chicken powder to the dry dough before mixing in the liquid
becomebetty says
Hey Alek! That sounds like a great suggestion. Thanks for sharing!
Dag says
Following that chicken flavored theme empty 2-3 packets of TJS Savory Concerntrated Chicken Broth packets into the boiling pasta water before adding pasta. These are considered a lower sodium product-I think each one has only 15% of your daily. I love this product! Great on baked potatos, rice, pasta etc. Add to mayo when making chicken salad or pasta salad.
becomebetty says
Hey Dag! Sounds yummy. I finally picked up the spinach and kale bites on my last trip. I hope to get to them in the next 2 weeks. Thanks for the suggestion.