Saw Rao's pasta at the store yesterday and picked up a pound
(18 oz, really) of standard Linguine for $3.49, to pair up with
the jar of Emeril's Vodka Sauce I got a week or two ago meaning
to try it out.

Eh.

Neither was special. The sauce tasted better cold
than heated. It was terribly bland even though I'd added
sicilian rope sausage to it. Attractive roasted-something
smell, but otherwise not impressive enough to buy again.

The pasta was, basically, pasta. Nice linguine, is about
as excited as I'll get over it. At nearly 3X the price
of store-brand, it's certainly not worth the vig.

I paired this up with a Bolla Bardolino, which has
rapidly become my favorite Italian wine for pasta meals,
supplanting Col di Sasso Sangiovese. Very nice. The rest
of the bottle is sitting on the counter calling my name.

It was a decent pasta dinner. I wouldn't have complained
eating this at any restaurant. But I would have tried
the osso buco next time.

--Blair
"Hey, you think Emeril makes
a store-brand osso buco?"