Kashi Pesto Pasta Primavera

January 3, 2007 | Reviewer: Rebecca

SRP: $4-5.00
Serving: 1 tray, 10 oz.
Calories: 330
Fat: 17%, 11g
Cholesterol: 2%, 5mg
Sodium: 33%, 790mg
Protein: 12g
Carbs: 31%, 93g
Fiber: 28%, 7g
Weight Watchers Points: 7 Points

Kashi says: Yellow carrots, sweet red peppers and peas, multigrain penne pasta, basil pesto sauce with shredded parmesan cheese

Rebecca says: There are three things I always enjoy: (1) Pasta (2) Pesto and (3) Free food. When Abi offered me the opportunity to review Kashi’s new Pesto Pasta Primavera, I quickly agreed.

The most important part of pesto pasta is the pesto sauce itself-here, the sauce was a bright friendly green and had decently mellow pesto flavor. I usually enjoy my pesto with a more of a fresh garlic kick and a burst of basil; this version was a bit less flavorful than I would have liked. The garlic and basil were identifiable, but not particularly distinctive. With most pesto sauces, I just want to slather it on everything (crackers, pita, veggies, pasta, etc.) but I wasn’t so hooked on this one that I wanted to keep eating it with a variety of starches.

When I first removed the tray from the microwave, the Kashi’s pesto seemed a bit soupy. However, more thorough mixing distributed the sauce to the pasta as a whole and decreased the soupiness. As a result of soaking in soupy sauce, the pasta was quite soggy. Kashi’s pasta is a special multigrain penne, but I could not taste the extra multigrain-ness (not that I really missed it). Maybe the multigrain taste was missing because the pasta was just a bit overcookedâ€”more like regular American-style we-don’t-know-what-al-dente-means pasta than hearty, chewy multigrain pasta.

By far, my favorite part was the vegetables (a.k.a. primavera). The peppers and peas were bright, nicely cooked, firm and actually tasted (and resembled) real peppers and peas. Plus, there were enough vegetable bits to have some veggie in every bit. I was surprised that the vegetables were perfectly cooked because the pasta was a little overdone. By overdone I mean mushy.

If you like a mellow pesto sauce and your pasta ‘well done’, then you should try this meal for the tasty vegetables too. If you like pesto with sharper flavors and pasta al dente, you might want to find that combo somewhere else. Just remember to add some vegetables, they were so delicious.

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2 Responses to “Kashi Pesto Pasta Primavera”

SAM on April 27th, 2007

My husband and myself tried this the other evening. Instead of buying another box I added more MULTI GRAIN PENNE PASTA, and BASIL PESTA SAUCE.
Eating Right Chicken Poblano : Heat Eat Review : We Review TV Dinners, Frozen Meals, and Microwavable Foods on June 4th, 2008

[…] is the most awesome frozen pasta variation. Be it the Trader Joe’s Penne Pepperonata or the Kashi Penne, the pasta stands up well to the freeze/thaw process, adheres nicely to sauces and is stabbable. […]

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