In 2008, when Packit Gourmet was a young company, I first reviewed their Market Pasta Puttanesca meal on the blog of TrailCooking. That review no longer exists due to rebuilding the site a few years back, but the photos do, so I had to share those. The meal then was a little different, as it had long pasta, versus now, where it is a smaller pasta.
The pasta was a cook-in-the-pot meal. I used a GSI Outdoors Halulite pot that time.
Cooking the meal alongside Shadow Lake at Mount Rainier National Park.
Ready to eat.
The modern version.
A single-serving meal costs $12.99 and has 710 calories – a good count for a hiker meal. Often, freeze-dried pasta meals are 360 calories a “serving,” so you eat the whole bag to be full.
The meal is vegetarian, and you can choose to include parmesan cheese or not with it.
Ingredients:
“Gemelli Pasta (100% pure Italian durum wheat, niacin, ferrous sulfate [iron], thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), Organic Tomato Paste (organic tomatoes, silicon dioxide), Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Spices, Sweet Basil, Organic Evaporated Cane Juice, Basil Pesto (basil, romano cheese, salt, spices, garlic powder), Organic Carrot Granules, Red and Green Bell Peppers, Minced White Onion, Diced Sweet Onion, Green Bell Pepper, Sea Salt, Spinach, Parmesan Cheese (partially skim milk, cultures, salt, enzymes, disodium phosphate), Mushrooms, Zucchini Squash, Celery”
The dry ingredients. The meal comes in two parts. The pasta contains herbs and other seasonings and a packet with the pasta sauce. Once you add the pasta to the boiling water in the pot, add the dry sauce mix to the main pouch, add in cool water, and mix. The hot pasta will be added to this sauce at the end.
This meal requires cooking in a pot for 9 minutes. No draining is needed. One note is the seasoning in the pasta does make a mess of the pot and the pot lid as it boils, but if you have a damp paper towel on hand, you can wipe it clean after you transfer the pasta and water back into the meal bag to finish making it. Don’t wait, though, as it will dry onto your pot. You can see the herbs on the pot above.
It is a large serving—a very intense fresh tomato flavor due to the tomato sauce powder used in the sauce. The parmesan cheese is an option now. You can add it to your order or leave it off (no extra charge). I would have liked to double the cheese, but that is me. And no worries, I always have parmesan cheese in my food bag.
I will say I felt the meal needed a packet of olive oil added. It would temper the strong tomato flavor.
The gemilli pasta shape is hearty in texture and holds up the sauce. It’s a better choice than the straight pasta used back in the day. Easier to eat with a spoon, for sure!
~Sarah