This Under-$5 Pasta Sauce Tastes Shockingly Close to the Fresh Italian Sauces I Had Abroad - Dining and Cooking

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Credit: Photo: Vicky Wasik ; Food Stylist: Rachel Perlmutter

If you were connected to the internet in 2020 in any capacity, you’re probably aware of the pasta alla vodka craze. The spicy, creamy tomato sauce became so popular (thanks to model Gigi Hadid’s famous Instagram Story) that it prompted thousands of influencer cooking videos.

The sautéed onion, garlic, tomato, cream, and aged cheese sauce (with a splash of vodka to emulsify the components) is far from new; it’s been appearing on restaurant menus in Italy since the 1970s. It’s also fairly easy to make yourself if you’ve got 35 minutes to spare.

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This may sound kind of lazy, but on busy nights when I am too tired to form a sentence — let alone chop, sauté, and simmer the ingredients for homemade vodka sauce — I am not above turning to jarred pasta sauce. Fortunately, and perhaps as a testament to the popularity of vodka sauce, there are lots of choices when it comes to jarred options for this creamy-spicy tomato sauce. Between the budget-friendly big-name brands and specialty gourmet jars (hello, Williams Sonoma), I’ve tried them all — and I found a firm favorite at Kroger.

Credit: Ivy Manning

What’s So Great About Private Selection Mascarpone Pasta Sauce?

When I first tried Gigi Hadid’s recipe, I found the chili flakes to be a little too much for my taste. Kroger’s store-brand version turns the heat down quite a bit. There’s just a nice little touch of cayenne in the finish. It’s one of the best items you can find in all of Kroger. Period.

The first thing you taste is basil, then juicy tomato flavor. Then the sauce turns on the rich creaminess (thanks to mascarpone, the smooth, high-fat, spreadable Italian cheese you may know from a classic tiramisu). It adds a luxurious touch to the sauce that is unique.

Private Selection Mascarpone Vodka Pasta Sauce

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The addition of vodka is minimal — just a splash is used to purportedly emulsify the acidic tomatoes and the cream and cheese in the sauce. You can’t taste it, but it does add a sharpness I miss if it’s not there.

To finish the sauce, Hadid used basic Parmesan cheese; the Kroger version uses Pecorino Romano to great effect. The aged sheep’s milk cheese isn’t as ubiquitous as Parmigiano Reggiano, and that’s a shame. Pecorino Romano adds a punchy, salty umami funk to pasta sauce that nutty Parmesan just can’t. It’s especially nice in sauces where there’s a bit of heat, as its assertive flavor won’t get bulldozed.

Credit: Ivy Manning

What’s the Best Way to Use Private Selection Mascarpone Pasta Sauce?

The first time I tried this sauce, I made the mistake of ladling it over some freshly boiled spaghetti. Italians are absolute sticklers for which type of pasta to serve with which sauce, for good reason. Smooth, creamy and slightly spicy sauces like this one are meant to be tossed thoroughly with chunky tube-shaped pasta before plating.

Using the tossing method ensures the silky sauce coats the tubes and creeps inside each cylinder, so you get a little squish of sauce bursting from the pasta as you bite down. If that’s not heaven, I don’t know what is. (Please don’t tell my Italian friends that I poured vodka sauce over spaghetti that one time; they’d never forgive me.)

To amplify the delicious basil notes in Kroger’s sauce, I snip some fresh basil leaves from my herb pot and scatter them over the pasta right before serving. The heat from the sauce releases the oils in the basil leaves, so when I sit down to eat I’m greeted with the aroma of fresh basil. With a sauce this good, I think this ready-in-10 minutes pasta dish deserves it. Buy: Private Selection Mascarpone Pasta Sauce, $4.49 for 24 ounces at KrogerDo you have a favorite jarred pasta sauce at Kroger? Tell us about it in the comments below.

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