Product: Caesar’s Gluten-Free and Wheat-Free Stuffed Shells with Cheese in a Marinara Sauce – $7.99+
The lack of gluten-free large pasta shells is annoying. And I’m here to tell you why. I have been craving Italian favorites (stuffed shells, manicotti, etc.), but no one seems to have the noodles for it. Gluten-free pasta isn’t new by any means, but it does lack variety. Especially in the larger shell dishes. With the exception of lasagna, finding something gluten-free on the shelf is nigh on impossible.
So…what’s the second best thing to homemade? Frozen.
And thankfully, this little company called Caesar’s has a line of gluten-free and wheat-free products in specialty stores. I found a few varieties of pasta meals in the freezer section of my local natural foods store. And thank goodness for that. I was just home from being away for the New Year and wasn’t quite certain what I wanted to make for dinner. It was getting late as it was…so this would be easy enough to fix. It was a toss-up between the manicotti and the stuffed shells meals. But, stuffed shells had been on my crave list longer, so it came home with me first.
The meal is simple. Bosh it in the microwave for a few minutes. It really is that simple.
The shells for this meal are made out of rice flour, stuffed with a sweet ricotta cheese and topped off with a delicious marinara sauce. One reason Caesar’s began offering these types of meals is that not everyone can enjoy authentic Italian food. As a girl who loves Italian food but can’t just go out and eat it anymore, having a company provide a variety of products (that no other company has pitched yet) means I am a fan for life. The fact that these products are delicious…is an even bigger plus.
Upon the dinner being completed by the microwave, I peeled back the plastic. Sure, at first glance it doesn’t look appetizing, but what microwave dinner does? Inside the package were three fully stuffed shells, packed with an herbed ricotta cheese. The marinara sauce was a very nice addition and kept everything moist and delicious. In fact, the red sauce wasn’t runny in the slightest, but a thick, hearty topping for the pasta itself. I dished it up onto plates (the meal is for one, but my roommate and I were splitting it) and we sat down to enjoy gluten-free stuffed shells.
Amazing. Honestly, this was packaged food done right. The microwave didn’t take away from the flavor, nor did it cook the life out of the pasta. It wasn’t dry or soggy. It was a perfect conglomeration of sauce, cheese, and noodle. And one that left me quite satisfied, and my palate pleased. The craving is gone for the stuffed shells and I owe it all to Caesar’s Pasta. I think manicotti will be next…
Find these little boxes of joy in your local stores and try them out. I will warn you…they are quite expensive. One meal ran up a tab of $7.99, one reason my roommate and I split a meal. However, they are definitely worth the cost in the end. You won’t even know they are gluten-free. But because they are, I can savor every last, cheese-filled bite.
The Celiathlete 