DeLallo Orzo

A brief return to the DeLallo life since the store had no DeCecco orzo. This stuff is solid. I don't like orzo, but I was making a ~healthy~ orzo spinach bake. It was OK. The orzo didn't fully cook but it soaked up all the broth after sitting for a while, and that really impressed me. They are very little.

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10

DeLallo Penne Ziti

Kinda weird to be both penne and ziti all at once, since I think of those as distinct pasta entities. But really penne is about the diagonal cut, and ziti is about the smooth tube, so a smooth tube with a diagonal cut, if such a thing exists (and now it does) would indeed be penne ziti. Ziti penne. Zitti e buoni. Neither penne nor ziti are really up my alley, especially the ziti of it all. They're too large and slippery to get anywhere with. A frustrating shape for your girl. The taste is, as always, just fine.

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10

DeLallo Orecchiette

Do these even look like (human) ears? Do ears really look like little cups? Am I just unable to imagine an ear detached from the head? These are the thoughts that calm me as I find myself with too much to do today. I think we've pretty much covered all there is to say about DeLallo pasta by now. It is, on the whole, pleasant. This shape is fun but a little too stackable, such that you get too much pasta-per-cubic-inch and not enough air. These also have a pretty long cook time (~12 minutes), which is no doubt related to the lack of air. Once the DeLallo backlog is complete (soon!) I think I'll return to my usual elbow-spaghett rotation, and only venture outside that on special occasions.

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10

De Lallo Elbows

 

These Delallbows are pretty good. Quick cook time (6min), tasty, cute. The only issue I have is that they're so small I've choked on them more than once. User error for sure, but a user error that hasn't come up with the other, less chokey shapes. No further comments, your honors.

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10

De Lallo Spaghetti

This was actually quite enjoyable. A good cook time (solid 9 minutes, no gumminess), a good bite, pleasant. Even without spagbol I can enjoy a nice spag bowl. 

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 7/10

DeLallo Whole-Wheat Pasta Shells

I never thought this would happen, but I'm getting weary of pasta. All these little shapes! And yet! So shells are an inferior shape, as discussed, here in a superior whole-wheat format health-wise -- but inferior taste-wise, although shells are so heavy and chewy that it's almost negligible. Maybe I should come back to all these reviews with a fresh eye at a time when I am cheerier. (What time will that be, you ask? Listen, possibility is the great good &c.) Regardless of the reason(s), eating these was something of a slog, and that should never be the case for pasta! They were very filling though.

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 5/10

DeLallo Shells

You'd think I would like shells as a shape: they look nice (objectively??) and are a reasonable middling size. But they eat troublingly. Even with plenty of extra cook time, wet wet spinach accompaniment, and a pregame meditation, I find them dry, sticky, and far too noodle-forward. In their defense, a thick cheese sauce (imagine!) or tomato/cream sauce might obviate those concerns. But those sauces are not a part of my wee universe at this time, and even if they were, I still think there are more pleasing pastas, especially for the (supposed) 11 minute cook time. Plus I'm confused about what a serving size is meant to be. I've gone with two fistfuls for a hearty portion, since I live alone and can scandalously measure things in fistfuls without being a contaminator. I think a fistful is about 3/8 cup, but again, this is an annoying serving size.

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10

DeLallo Whole Wheat Orzo

Well well well. I usually don't like orzo, and while the whole wheat pastas are acceptable, I usually prefer the taste of the unwhole wheat. But somehow, this was better than other orzos and better than other wheat pasta shapes. I suppose the smallness means you can't taste much, which in this case is good. I am in such a bad place physically and/or mentally that I messed up making this the first time in so many ways (burner wasn't on, spilled half the bag, accidentally poured pepper out the big hole and not the little holes) and so it took almost an hour to do this 8-minute-pasta-cooking, but I was pleased to find the endeavor worthwhile after all the bother. Also the bag is compact which is good for travel (which I must do due to all the doctors I must see and my inabilty to drive myself to them)!

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 7/10

DeLallo Bucatini

Ah, pasta. This is a fun shape: spaghetti with a hole in the middle. (Bucatini is, of course, Italian for "lil holes".) That hole really adds something, too! They feel substantial but also a little chewier, even when cooked fully. There's something about these that I find whimsical. And without cheese or onion I will take my pasta whimsy where I can!! They take about 8 minutes to cook and are pretty filling. A top tier shape, to be sure. (The taste is the same as all other DeLallo pastas: fine.)

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10

DeLallo Whole Wheat Capellini

Do I dare to eat a capellino? I do. Actually, I ate about 20, if I had to guess. This is a fun shape after weeks of elbow, and the cook time (3-4 minutes) is extremely convenient if ever you find yourself very busy. They do have the same taste as all the other DeLallo wheat pastas, but since it is so very thin, it hardly has any taste at all. We have a lot in common, in other words. (A joke, amici!)

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10

DeLallo Whole Wheat Elbow Macaroni

These are fine! I admit, I'm conditioned to the white wheat pastas, so it's not as pleasurable to eat these, but elbows are a great quick-to-cook shape and the taste is perfectly fine, just more complex. More fruity, as discussed previously. Once I have these more, I'll acclimate, and they do have more fiber and no rogue legumes, so I do like them. I do!

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10

DeLallo Shellbows

 

OK, the shape isn't really doing it for me, but the name is top-tier. I'd say these are more akin to shells than elbows -- they feel big and kinda cumbersome. But I guess it's true that they would be great in a thick sauce, it's just that I tend to have sauceless pastas. Anyway, a pretty long cook time but they taste good and are definitely unique!

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 7/10

DeLallo Ditalini Rigati

Unlike other DeLallo stuff, I don't live in fear of the Plain Pasta, because there's only one ingredo (wheat) and website is very clear that this is made in a nut free facility. So, huzzah! I never loved Ditalini, at least as a plain noodle, but they are mighty compact which is convenient for storing and measuring. And the cook time is 9min, which is less than the bigger shapes. These are definitely less weird tasting than the whole wheat pastas (although of course less healthy too). I enjoyed it! They were RIBBED, which made them more substantial than other ditalinis I've had. Decent even with just oil + cheese + tomato, yay.

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 7/10

DeLallo Original Crostini

These are really cute and (supposedly) don't contain nuts, but I was terrified so I waited until my parents were visiting to try one. So far so alive, but it's only been 30 minutes or so. Anyhow, these are very cute. Little toasts! And they're individually wrapped into their serving size of 6 toasts, which I like. The taste is a bland crunch. Similar to stale bread, I guess, which is of course what toast is. Not super scary tasting, but not special either.

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 5/10

DeLallo Mushroom Spaghetti Sauce

At this point, my DeLallo allergy phobia is extremely overblown. This is a pasta sauce with no allergens listed, and no reason to think there'd be an issue!! But the combo of past labelling confusion, my neighbor playing the flute during workday hours while I'm trying to work, and my epic 7-day+ sore throat is surely adding to increase my high-strung-ness. Anyhoo. This smells good and has no sugar added. It actually smells cheesy to me, but I think the pure pasta sauces always do. One downside is that the jar is very hard to open, and the lid is too thick to get a can opener around it. I really hurt myself opening this, lol. Otherwise, it's fine. I only got one (very large) mushroom piece in my first serving, and the rest is a very smooth puree texture. Mostly tastes like tomato. Kind of acidic, nothing bad there but not my favorite of all time (even with the anxiety aside, I think). 

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10

DeLallo Parmesan & Romano Cheese Shaker

This is pretty good! It definitely tastes more like cheese than the green store shaker. Supposedly lasts until June, and supposedly no nuts in there, so if all is as it seems, this is pretty good stuff. Of course I'm De-Lallo-Spicious now, but if I weren't, I'd be extremely on board.

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10

DeLallo Garlic Mushrooms

I was so nervous to eat these that I waited to visit my parents to try them! Even though the label is safe, the website doesn't say "peanut free", and that's spooky. But I like mushrooms so I wanted to at least try them. The good news is: I don't really like them. I had one and thought "yep, that's enough." They're mushrooms but in vinegar, like a pickle. I like mushroom but I don't like pickle. The texture is good, I guess, but yeah. Not for me. Hope I don't die!

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 3/10

DeLallo Vodka Sauce

On the website this is called "Vodka Sauce Square" and I truly have no idea why. They do make at least two other vodka sauces, but they aren't shape names. Also, unlike the pastas, the pasta sauces don't have the "nut free" etc logos on the website, and they do make nutty pestos, so I'm have a little freakout whenever I eat one of their pasta sauces (foolishly I bought three to go along with the curséd ladyfingers, which aren't updated yet). But I survived this one at least! And it does taste good; creamy like many vodka sauces and cheesy and tomatoey. There are small chunks of tomato and carrot which I like. I have no complaints, other than the shady allergy stuff -- I think other than the pastas, I won't buy any of their other branded things in the future because it's just too uncertain!

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 7/10

DeLallo Whole Wheat Penne

Aha! Whole wheat pasta! This is 100% wheat, so no legume fears here. I have the vibe that a "veggie" pasta is healthier but actually this is pretty good as far as protein and fiber go, so maybe I'm about to be a whole wheat convert. The cooking time is higher, though (11min), and the taste is definitely different. Maybe it's the wheat berry of it all, but it tastes almost sweeter, in an "unroasted cacao" way. Or a "dark beer" way. IDK man. Nevertheless, the taste is weird and the texture is weird, but if you are having something other than plain pasta, this seems like a nice way to be a little healthier. Plus I bet you'd bet used to it after a while!

Overall
Cost: 5/10 [4$]
Taste: 6/10

DeLallo Instant Espresso Powder

I got this because of the February DeLallo calendar - affogato! Unfortunately I haven't been able to make that recipe yet, because I also bought DeLallo ladyfingers online for it, and they (and this) read as nut free, and I thought yay! But then when the ladyfingers arrived, they May Contain Nutsed. Annoying and frankly terrifying. I sent them a whiny email, so we'll see if they update the website. Plus when I was googling about that I saw they had a recall for unlabelled pecans in a (different) cookie, so then I got really anxious, etc etc. My calendar dreams might be fading fast in February!!! 

Anyhoo. This is just espresso powder, and both the bottle and the website say it's safe, so like, c'mon, me, I gotta just use it. I tried to make a latte this morning but unfortunately one espresso shot is either not much espresso at all or this is hella weak powder, because it tasted just like Milk Only. And I only put a little milk! So, that wasn't a great success. What I did get from the taste was very "instant coffee", which I guess makes sense. It has that caroby taste, like fake sugary chocolate and not like a strong coffee flavor at all. But, I didn't die! And it mixed with the water well, no grit or any texture issues. 

Overall
Cost: 5/10 [7$]
Taste: 5/10