Trader Giotto's Italian Tomato Pasta Sauce Trio

Ten bucks gets you three tomato-based pasta sauces imported from Italy. Trader Giotto's Italian Tomato Pasta Sauce Trio is a limited-time release made with Pugliese tomatoes, and it features 1) a puttanesca sauce with olives, capers, and anchovies 2) a datterino cherry tomato sauce and 3) a tomato and roasted vegetable pasta sauce. Both Sonia and I liked the puttanesca sauce best, but we'll break down our observations of all three tomatoey toppings.

So...puttanesca is a funny word. The first part of it is quite similar to a not-so-nice word in Spanish that Sonia and I are familiar with, but the root word is also used in Italian. Apparently, the sauce is, in fact, referring to a style of cooking associated with women of ill repute. There are many theories floating about that attempt to explain the sauce's origins and its scandalous name, but both the beautiful wifey and I found it to have the most pleasant and interesting texture and flavor.

It's the heartiest of the three if only by virtue of the chunks of veggies floating through the mixture. There are plenty of green Chalkidiki olive slices and Kalamata olive slices, along with tiny bits of anchovies. I didn't notice any capers in our jar, but they are listed in the ingredients. The flavor is very salty and pungent. Like the other two, it's got plenty of tomato flavor, but it's the richest, earthiest, most complex flavor by a good margin.

Next up, we've got a sauce that's highlighting a particular species of cherry tomato known as the datterino. I thought for sure the beautiful wifey would enjoy this one the best since she's an outspoken tomatophile. I felt like this had the most pure, bright tomato flavor of the three sauces, but since I'm not really a fan of raw tomato, I didn't really gravitate towards it. Surprisingly this is also Sonia's least favorite of the trio, citing a one-dimensional flavor profile as its weakness. "It feels too plain," she stated. I don't disagree.

Finally, the Italian Tomato and Roasted Vegetable Pasta Sauce. This one actually tasted like roasted veggies and had a nice garlicky essence underneath everything. The zucchini, eggplant, and peppers definitely added to the flavor and the texture of the sauce, though we both think it could have benefited by doubling or tripling the amount. For both of us, this was the second best sauce in the pack.

None of the sauces were particularly thick in terms of the density of the liquid, but each had a nice natural tomato flavor and an authentic Italian spice blend. We'd pick this product up again just for the variety and the value. $3.33 per jar is a decent price point for a true European import and the presentation is nice. It'd make a decent gift. Let's get to our final scores for Trader Joe's Italian Tomato Pasta Sauce Trio.

Trader Giotto's Tomato Puttanesca Sauce with Olives, Anchovies & Capers: 7.75 out of 10.

Trader Giotto's Italian Datterino Cherry Tomato & Roasted Garlic Pasta Sauce: 7 out of 10.

Trader Giotto's Italian Tomato & Roasted Vegetable Pasta Sauce: 7.25 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Crispy Dried Watermelon

It's important to note that this crispy dried watermelon is, indeed, an entirely different product than Trader Joe's Organic Watermelon Jerky. It is also worth mentioning that, while the review posted of the watermelon jerky on this particular blog is a fairly positive take on the offering, that it was penned by former contributor Russ. My own personal sentiments of that product were not nearly as favorable. I found that stuff to be revolting in both flavor and texture.

While the jerky was fibrous and leathery, Trader Joe's Crispy Dried Watermelon is brittle and snaps apart with a satisfying click. It is indeed crispy and crunchy. The little pieces, when strewn about upon a plate, make a sound not unlike tiny plastic toys or the building elements of a model airplane. It's a unique texture, for sure, but it's far more pleasant than the frustratingly chewy mouthfeel of the watermelon jerky.

The taste is surprisingly close to that of real watermelon. It's shockingly sweet. And while there is a good bit of sugar in the single serving bag, 100% of it is natural sugar. It's literally just the sweetness of the watermelon magically transformed into a crystalline candy format.

It tastes like real fruit, but it also tastes like candy. Moreover, it feels like candy. At 150 calories for the entire bag, it's such a perfect snack for summer and warm weather. If you like this product as much as we do, we also recommend checking out Trader Joe's Watermelon Freeze Dried Candies.

$2.99 for 1.41 oz of Trader Joe's Crispy Dried Watermelon in a resealable bag. Product of Thailand. One and a half pounds of watermelon were used in each bag. Sonia has experimented with adding it to yogurt and ice cream and even rimming her cocktail glass with crumbled crispy watermelon, but we both agree it's best straight out of the bag as a light, sweet summertime snack. We'd both buy it again. Eight out of ten stars from me. Eight and a half stars from Sonia.

Bottom line: 8.25 out of 10.