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windandwaterChicken Parmigiana & Penne: Bertolli's version of the Italian favorite. A flavorful pairing of diced tomatoes strips of breaded chicken breast and mozzarella cheese in a traditional tomato sauce.
Now, I readily admit that I bought this because I kept seeing the commercials for Bertolli Skillet Meals on TV. Yay for mass media. I like pasta and good Italian food (beyond cooking up a pot of spaghetti), but it tends to be time consuming if you want to get fancy. :P I had a craving for pasta, and remembered this, so I bought a bag when I walked past the freezer section. The marketing says that these meals are supposed to be for 2, and that's a pretty accurate assessment. I would say you could stretch the contents for 3, MAYBE 4, depending on if you're serving up anything else with the pasta. As the main dish, I wouldn't go past 3 people, but it's plenty for 2. Especially if you have cheesy garlic bread to go with it. ^^
The preparation for this couldn't be easier. You pull it out of the freezer and dump everything onto a skillet, pop the cover on, and cook for 10 minutes, and stir it halfway through to make sure the pasta doesn't stick. I was alittle surprised (pleasantly) by how it came out of the package. There was the pasta, and the chicken, but the sauce and cheese were frozen into small little blocks, like ice cubes. That's very handy, since it meant the cubes melted in the pan evenly. I was worried everything would be in a big block, and part would burn before the other end melted. :P Stirring halfway through is a must though, since besides making sure the pasta doesn't clump, you can stir up the sauce and cheese so everything is even.
AND MAKE SURE YOUR PAN IS NONSTICK. Mine wasn't (well it used to be but it's old), and I coated it with nonstick spray before I cooked, and while I was stirring, I was scraping up the cheese and sauce, hoping it wouldn't fuse to the bottom of the pan. XD;; It wasn't a horrible mess, so I was very glad.
Appearance once cooked was very nice. As I said, everything cooked evenly, and I was happy to see chunks of tomato in the saucethat I wasn't expecting. The penne pasta was very nice as well, and the cheese I worried about was very melty and stringy just how I like it. The only thing I didn't like was the chicken. While there was nicely breaded chicken (it reminded me of chicken tenders), it was uneven. There was one really big piece of chicken (maybe it was two stuck together?), then some medium ones and smaller bits. I didn't like that the chicken didn't seem to be distibuted evenly, especially since this is supposed to be a meal for two. Are you supposed to fight each other for the biggest piece of chicken?
Now the most important part... TASTE!
Overall, this was delicious. Ten minutes in a skillet after being frozen doesn't sound very long, but it's just right. The pasta was hot, the cheese was melty, the sauce was thick, and even the chicken was cooked all the way through without being tough or dry or frozen. The bits of tomatoes were good, and made the whole dish seem more like it was freshly made instead of frozen. This is certainly a meal that's good when you eat every bit together, but the pasta could stand on its own, too. The chicken wasn't terrible but not jaw-dropping (see my previous statement about chicken tenders), but with the sauce and pasta, it was good and moist. I had about a third of the skillet (not quite half) and I was full. Very filling, which is good.
This also passes the next day test! I'd left half of the pasta (and the biggest pieces of chicken) for my dad to eat when he got home, but he didn't. >_>;; Ungrateful. So, I just pulled it out of the fridge and nuked the whole lot the next day. The pasta and sauce and cheese remained delicious, and even the chicken passed the nuking test. I got REALLY full after eating that half+ that was left over.
THE FINAL DECISION:
A very good product. Ease of preparation, as well as the varieties is a plus. It's very tasty, and a nice surprise if you want to go for it. I liked being able to have a good pasta dinner without the fuss. I would reccommend the Chicken Parmigiana & Penne to others. ^^ I'll have to test out the other varities, too.
Now, I readily admit that I bought this because I kept seeing the commercials for Bertolli Skillet Meals on TV. Yay for mass media. I like pasta and good Italian food (beyond cooking up a pot of spaghetti), but it tends to be time consuming if you want to get fancy. :P I had a craving for pasta, and remembered this, so I bought a bag when I walked past the freezer section. The marketing says that these meals are supposed to be for 2, and that's a pretty accurate assessment. I would say you could stretch the contents for 3, MAYBE 4, depending on if you're serving up anything else with the pasta. As the main dish, I wouldn't go past 3 people, but it's plenty for 2. Especially if you have cheesy garlic bread to go with it. ^^
The preparation for this couldn't be easier. You pull it out of the freezer and dump everything onto a skillet, pop the cover on, and cook for 10 minutes, and stir it halfway through to make sure the pasta doesn't stick. I was alittle surprised (pleasantly) by how it came out of the package. There was the pasta, and the chicken, but the sauce and cheese were frozen into small little blocks, like ice cubes. That's very handy, since it meant the cubes melted in the pan evenly. I was worried everything would be in a big block, and part would burn before the other end melted. :P Stirring halfway through is a must though, since besides making sure the pasta doesn't clump, you can stir up the sauce and cheese so everything is even.
AND MAKE SURE YOUR PAN IS NONSTICK. Mine wasn't (well it used to be but it's old), and I coated it with nonstick spray before I cooked, and while I was stirring, I was scraping up the cheese and sauce, hoping it wouldn't fuse to the bottom of the pan. XD;; It wasn't a horrible mess, so I was very glad.
Appearance once cooked was very nice. As I said, everything cooked evenly, and I was happy to see chunks of tomato in the saucethat I wasn't expecting. The penne pasta was very nice as well, and the cheese I worried about was very melty and stringy just how I like it. The only thing I didn't like was the chicken. While there was nicely breaded chicken (it reminded me of chicken tenders), it was uneven. There was one really big piece of chicken (maybe it was two stuck together?), then some medium ones and smaller bits. I didn't like that the chicken didn't seem to be distibuted evenly, especially since this is supposed to be a meal for two. Are you supposed to fight each other for the biggest piece of chicken?
Now the most important part... TASTE!
Overall, this was delicious. Ten minutes in a skillet after being frozen doesn't sound very long, but it's just right. The pasta was hot, the cheese was melty, the sauce was thick, and even the chicken was cooked all the way through without being tough or dry or frozen. The bits of tomatoes were good, and made the whole dish seem more like it was freshly made instead of frozen. This is certainly a meal that's good when you eat every bit together, but the pasta could stand on its own, too. The chicken wasn't terrible but not jaw-dropping (see my previous statement about chicken tenders), but with the sauce and pasta, it was good and moist. I had about a third of the skillet (not quite half) and I was full. Very filling, which is good.
This also passes the next day test! I'd left half of the pasta (and the biggest pieces of chicken) for my dad to eat when he got home, but he didn't. >_>;; Ungrateful. So, I just pulled it out of the fridge and nuked the whole lot the next day. The pasta and sauce and cheese remained delicious, and even the chicken passed the nuking test. I got REALLY full after eating that half+ that was left over.
THE FINAL DECISION:
A very good product. Ease of preparation, as well as the varieties is a plus. It's very tasty, and a nice surprise if you want to go for it. I liked being able to have a good pasta dinner without the fuss. I would reccommend the Chicken Parmigiana & Penne to others. ^^ I'll have to test out the other varities, too.
