Amy’s Bowls- Baked Ziti with Rice Pasta and Organic Vegetables- gluten free/ wheat free/ non-dairy/ Vegan
Yummmmm, a steaming hot bowl of pasta on a chilly November afternoon. Sounds good to me! As I go about my cleaning and errands during the day, I sometimes keep a frozen gluten free product in the freezer to cook up while I put away groceries or get ready to pay bills. Brown rice pasta is something I have grown to love, and enjoy to even more than the gluten pasta I used to consume. It’s lighter, more flavorful and just tastes GOOD. On one particularly chilly day, I popped one of Amy’s gluten free Baked Ziti Bowls in the microwave for five minutes. You can also bake it in the oven for 55 minutes, but really, who wants to wait that long for something that is supposed to be a convenience food? Each bowl is one serving size.
This is what the pasta bowl looked liked fresh from the freezer:
To my surprise, it actually looked pretty good. A sprinkling of soy cheese graced the top of the noodles with green peas peeking out on the sides. However, it didn’t look that good for long:
Wasn’t there soy cheese on there? Where are the peas? I felt a bit nervous at the scary site- the way the soy cheese cooked with the organic tomato sauce didn’t look tasty at all. Stirring the ziti helped a bit. And, it did smell realllly good!
 The yummy smelling sauce was thick, nicely seasoned, and complimented the ziti noodles with just a touch of sweetness. The addition of soy ricotta, garlic and olive oil were simply scrumptious. However, the noodles cooked unevenly in the bowl; some noodles tasted perfectly cooked, while others were dense and chewy, and not pleasant to eat. The peas cooked nicely without mushiness and held their shape well. However, I am not sure that the peas really complimented the sauce- the peas almost seemed out of place when it came to flavor. I wished the peas weren’t in there at all. But, that may be because I am not used to adding peas to my pasta.
Overall, it is a decent gluten free product that would be great for a quick lunch idea.
PROS: great flavor and aroma, tasty sauce, organic ingredients, non dairy
CONS: noodles cooked unevenly, we want more soy cheese Amy’s! ( it disappeared!), appearance doesn’t look good after cooking
Rating: 4 stars
You can buy this product from Wellnessgrocer.com or in the frozen food section of your local grocery store. This link also lists ingredients.
Read what Cybele of the Whole Foods Allergy Cookbook says about this product!!
