Paul Sorvino Food’s Authentic Neapolitan and Pasta alla Vodka Sauces

It’s one thing to get to be sent marinara and vodka sauces.  It’s another to be sent Paul Sorvino’s authentic neapolitian marinara and vodka sauces. 

Now, I’m not one to go ga ga for a movie star, but I really like the movies Goodfellas and Bulworth (both starring Mister Sorvino) so it was kind of cool when someone from Paul Sorvino Food sent me two jars of sauce: one of marinara and the other of vodka sauce.  It was even cooler when I came home to find my wife watching Goodfellas and I could go in to the pantry and grab one the jars (which feature a picture of Mister Sorvino) and ask “Look familar?”

It was less of a thrill when she replied “No.  Who is the guy on the jar?”

Anyway, that’s neither here nor there.  It was still pretty cool to review a sauce made by one of the stars of arguably the greatest mafia movie ever (yes, I preferred it to The Godfather. What you gonna do about it??)  And yes, I realize Mister Sorvino is an actor, but let me say he’s a supremely good actor.  Maybe a little too good.

So, just in case, let me say in no uncertain terms that Paul Sorvino Foods’ sauces are the best pasta sauces I’ve ever had.  No questions asked. 🙂

Okay, in all seriousness, Paul Sorvino Foods opened in 2007 when Mister Sorvino decide to release a series of food products based on his mother’s recipes.  Undoubtedly, his mother was a great cook because her sauce, even after it survived the jarring and shipping process was nice and rich and chunky.  That was a very pleasant surprise and more like what I expect from an Italian restaurant.  The vodka sauce was a lot smoother, but creamier.

And how do they taste?

Let’s start with the vodka sauce.  I am not the world’s greatest alla vodka sauce fan.  I like my vodka, I just don’t like it with tomatoes.  With that said, if I had to do penne alla vodka, I’d probably reach for a jar of Paul Sorvino Foods’ sauce.  I really like both its sweentess and its pronounced tang.  I especially liked the lack of overpowering alcohol flavor.  When fixing for guests, I might add a pinch more red pepper flake, but that’s because I like heat and I want it to balance the sweet.

On the other hand, the marinara was definitely my favorite.  When we first tried it, I took some straight out of the jar and put it on my noodles (shells in this case, because they are BWD, Jr. friendly)  and the sauce tasted fine, but it was a little thin. 

After dinner was over, I got to thinking about the thinness of the sauce and went back and read the label.  Sure enough, it said that the marinara needed to be simmered before eating.  So I put it in a sauce pan over medium heat (per the label) and let it bubble away for 10-15 minutes.

The resulting sauce was so much better.  The flavors were bolder, the chunky tomatoes broke down and gave the sauce a much richer tomato flavor, and the chunks of garlic got soft and perfumed the marinara.  Much, much better.  Much better.

So, my suggestion is that you try Paul Sorvino’s mama’s marinara and vodka sauces.  My recommendation is that you set them to simmering about the same time you get your pasta water boiling.  Cleaning the extra pot will definitely be worth all that extra flavor.

The picture was taken from Facebook.com/PaulSorvinoFoods and is used without explicit permission.