My Italian pasta boat comes in at Whole Foods

Organic Italian whole wheat pasta shells from Whole Foods Market in bottled marinara sauce with sardines, anchovies and organic kale.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
Editor

My Italian pasta boat finally came in, and today, I once again found those wonderful imported organic shells at Whole Foods Market in Paramus.

A bargain at $1.39 for a 16-ounce box, they are sold under the store's 365 Everyday Value label.

I turned them into a quick dinner with bottled Victoria Marinara Sauce (40 ounces), canned sardines and anchovies, and Earthbound Farm Organic Kale.

I added a few ounces of extra-virgin olive oil, red-pepper flakes and dried Italian seasoning to the sauce, in addition to the canned fish.

The store didn't have the shells in stock on Nov. 29, the day after Thanksgiving.

When I cooked the entire pound in boiling water tonight, I drained the pot after about 12 minutes, not the 14 to 15 minutes listed in the directions on the box.

I added another dimension to the dish with grated Pecorino Romano, a reduced-fat sheep's milk cheese from Costco Wholesale.

I transferred the drained shells to the bubbling sauce in another pot, and they continued to cook as I folded in about 6 ounces of the triple-washed baby kale leaves.

After two small portions of the pasta, I had a salad of Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix, organic baby kale, Campari tomato and cucumbers.

I drank Don Simon Shiraz from Spain, a smooth red wine with a screw top sold at Whole Foods for $3.99 a bottle.