Botticelli Foods Product Review
One of the perks of having a popular food blog that gets a good deal of daily traffic is that I am often sent products to review. I am pleased to taste test and review Italian ingredients or kitchen tools and accessories, but I also make it clear that I will not give gratuitous positive reviews. I feel quite strongly that unless my review is an honest one, then it isn’t productive for my blog, or the product I have tested. Late last year, I was sent a bottle of extra virgin olive oil, a jar of tomato basil pasta sauce, and spaghetti pasta to try out from Botticelli Foods. I will be honest, that I hadn’t heard of Botticelli Foods before I was contacted by their representative and was surprised to find that some of their products are even carried in my local grocery stores here in Florida. I was therefore very interested in giving these products a try.
Botticelli Tomato Basil Pasta Sauce – Not being a fan of prepared jarred pasta sauces, I was a little leery about trying this sauce but was pleased to see that the sauce is all natural sauce with no preservatives. I gave the sauce my first taste test that is simply tasting the sauce cold, right out of the jar with a spoon. The sauce tasted very fresh with a delicious natural sweetness. I found the sauce perfectly seasoned and slightly chunky in texture and I was eager to try it out on the pasta. I cooked the Botticelli pasta, drained it, then tossed it with some of the tomato basil sauce that I had heated as the pasta was cooking. The sauce was thick enough to cling to the pasta, and even after heating retained its fresh tomato flavor. I must admit that even after not having bought a jar of prepared tomato sauce in over 30 years, I thoroughly enjoyed this sauce! Botticelli also makes Marinara, Alla Vodka, and a Vegan-friendly Bolognese Sauce, and sauces are available in 24 oz. jars.
Botticelli Dried Pasta – I was sent a package of Botticelli dried spaghetti pasta to try, and after cooking it the recommended time, we drained it and tossed it with tomato sauce. The pasta was perfectly “al dente”, and paired well with the Botticelli Tomato Basil Sauce that I was sent. Botticelli pasta is made from 100% Durum Semolina, the heart of the wheat. Each product is also enriched to provide essential vitamins and minerals, and Botticelli Pasta is available in 16 oz. packages.
Botticelli’s line of pasta products includes:
Spaghetti
Rigatoni
Rotini
Bow Ties
Linguine
Penne
Elbows
Angel Hair
Botticelli Extra Virgin Olive Oil – Although Botticelli produces a variety of different types of olive oil (light, chef’s blend, etc.), I was sent a bottle of their Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Reading the label, it appears that the oil is a blend of olives from Italy, Greece, Spain, and Tunisia. Since we own a hundred of olive trees in Umbria that we harvest each fall to make our own olive oil, I am pretty particular about the olive oil I use in my kitchen. I prefer the sharp, biting flavor of a newly pressed oil, and since we produce our own oil, I rarely buy it anymore. I found the Botticelli olive oil to be much smoother than what I usually prefer, although the basic flavor was good. For me, this is an olive oil that I would use in my kitchen on a day to day basis for cooking and salad dressings. I save my own organic, freshly pressed olive oil, to finish off dishes rather than for cooking.
I really enjoyed tasting the Botticelli sauce and spaghetti pasta that I was sent and would highly recommend it to others. The extra virgin olive oil in my opinion would be a good oil to use on an everyday basis in the kitchen. To see if Botticelli Foods are available in your area, you can use this handy Retail Locations Search Engine.
To contact Botticelli Foods directly:
Botticelli Foods
1000 Prime Place
Hauppauge, New York 11788
(631) 543-7000
[email protected]
[email protected]
Deborah Mele
January 2016
How can Bolognese Sauce be Vegan friendly? Bolognese Sauce contains meat.
There are many types of Bolognese sauce. I have a lentil Bolognese on this blog that does not have any meat.
Excellent compliment to gluten free pasta. Best tomato sauce ever!
I LOVE you’re vegan bolognese sauce, but I have not been able to find it as of late. My zip code is 33948. Can you tell me where I can find it in my area? Thank you! Judy Piotrowski
Judy, you’ll have to write the company directly as I have no knowledge of where their products are sold.
I tried the Fra Diavolo, and LOVED it!!!! Got it Shop Rite on sale!
Botticelli has changed it’s Pasta bottle design (easier to hold but harder to get sauce out), but more significantly has changed the sauce ingredients. Not good. Too bad since they were my favorite affordable marinara sauce. First ingredient is a mix of diced and puree tomatoes (the better marinara don’t usually have puree), oils have been reduced, and sugar added to all except Marinara flavor.
Sorry to hear this! Unfortunately, many companies add sugar to appeal to American tastes.
Actually they added sugar to Marinara, too. It’s the “Traditional” flavor that doesn’t have sugar added. I don’t recall seeing that flavor until the recent changes, so I thought it was the new Marinara. Sugar is only part of the problem, it’s the whole change of tomatos and proportion of ingredients. It’s just another typical supermarket line now.
I tried their Roasted garlic sauce and it was delicious. I will need to try their other sauces as well.