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Under cover, meatballs pass muster

By KATHY SAUNDERS
Published December 7, 2005

Meatballs turn up on buffet tables all through the holidays. But if you try to save time by buying them already made, you will need to spend time making a delicious sauce in which to hide them.

Our Taster's Choice judges sampled eight varieties of frozen or refrigerated meatballs sold at grocery stores.

None pleased the judges enough to serve plain, but a few would work if dumped into a hearty tomato sauce or in a slow cooker for a day.

Out of a possible 80 points, judges gave the highest score of 37 to Celentano ($4.99 for a 32-ounce bag). Panelists liked the herbs and saltiness and the pan-fried texture of Celentano.

"These have nice green bits and good color," one judge said.

Another said the Celentano meatballs looked the most like homemade.

Two of the four judges said they would buy this brand if they didn't have time to make their own.

Two judges also said they would buy the second choice, meatballs from Resina purchased at Wal-Mart ($5.98 for a 38-ounce bag). The meatballs from Wal-Mart received 36 points.

"These are a great cocktail size," said one panelist.

A couple judges said this variety lacked the herb taste they wanted and another said they were too salty.

Judges gave 30 points to the meatballs from Albertsons ($3.49 for a 16-ounce bag).

"This is what I envision a meatball to look like in spaghetti," said one panelist.

Another liked the sausage flavor she detected and thought the Albertsons brand would taste good on a sandwich. The other two panelists said the store brand was too greasy.

"This is like the musical, but with all the wrong notes," said one judge. "They have too much oil."

Three judges said they might buy Albertsons and the fourth said "no way."

Also sampled were meatballs from Mama Lucia ($2 for a 12-ounce bag); Armour ($2.99 for a 16-ounce bag); GFS ($6.99 for a 5-pound bag); and Cooked Perfect ($10.77 for a 6-pound bag) and Casa Di Bertacchi ($10.87 for a 6-pound bag), both from Sam's Club.

Panelists were Nan Jensen, registered dietitian with Pinellas County Extension; chef Gary Kawalec; personal chef Julie Overton; and Bob Devin Jones, artistic director of Studioat620. All products were tasted blind.

Send suggestions for product testing to Taste section, St. Petersburg Times, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731 or e-mail them to krieta@sptimes.com Please put TEST SUGGESTION in the subject line. To read past Taster's Choice columns, go to www.sptimes.com/food

No. 1: Celentano.

No. 2: Resina.

No. 3: Albertsons.

[Last modified December 6, 2005, 10:06:06]