Day 7: Five Cheese Rigatoni

Hey Lean Cuisine Cuties,



What do we want?
CHEESE!

When do we want it?
All the damn time!!



This weekend my mom and I went to Target together and I decided she'd be a great first "guest" to enjoy a Lean Cuisine with me on the blog. We went with a flavor I had been recommended before - Five Cheese Rigatoni.

Upon first glance this looks like a pretty hefty portion, although I am worried about the cheese to pasta ratio for something touting a full handful of different cheeses. I'm getting a little indignant about these "stir" prep steps. OK - It's still frozen, you can't stir a solid, but whatever i'll push it around a little. A for Effort. The amount of prep steps was comparable to everything else so far. Becky (my mom) did question my technique for "cutting the film to vent" but I assured her this was not my first lean cuisine rodeo / I'd assumed it was just done that way so i'd continue to act like it was right.

My mom immediately pointed out the pasta in the middle was not as hot as the pasta on the sides of the plastic container (ahem, maybe if it wasn't frozen when stirring this wouldn't be an issue). However, this was an incredibly tasty dish! We both decided it was lacking a little something though. If this had veggies or a protein it would have been the perfect lean cuisine. If this had been served on a dish I would not have known this from actual rigatoni!! The noodles were "al dente", and there was just enough sauce, which was a miracle because I usually almost drown in the left over sauces from these meals. The cheese melted into the sauce and I feel like it became a bit of a vodka cream sauce. I told my mom this and she just said, "no." so nevermind, don't eat this thinking you'll get vodka sauce. All in all, I am very impressed with this dish. If pasta is your thing I would highly recommend it, and so would Becky.

Five Cheese Rigatoni - 4.5 out of 5 

(this would have been a solid 5 if it had a protein and cooked evenly!!)

- Colleen