Phantom Gourmet: Spicy Pasta Sauce Taste Test

BOSTON (CBS) - Phantom recently purchased spicy pasta sauces at a local supermarket.

The four fiery competitors were Barilla, Bertolli, Classico, and Vito Marcello's.

Classico spicy red pepper sauce finished at the bottom of the bunch. Its consistency was too smooth, and its flavor was too subtle. In fact, this sauce bordered on bland.

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Next up was Barilla spicy marinara. The only brand to list sugar as an ingredient, this sauce actually tasted a lot like ketchup, except that ketchup doesn't finish with an unpleasant burn in the back of the throat.

The runner-up is Bertolli Arrabbiata. Although an improvement over the others, this sauce was still nothing special. While Bertolli did serve up a decent blend of flavor and heat, Phantom couldn't stop thinking that someone secretly swapped out the sauce in this jar for salsa.

At the top of the food chain is Vito Marcello's Fra Diavolo sauce. This New Hampshire-based brand cost a few bucks more than the competitors, but at least it actually tasted like tomato sauce. With pleasing chunks of tomatoes and hot italian peppers, Chef Vito's family recipe yields a sauce you'll be proud to pour over your pasta.

For more food and fun, watch the Phantom Gourmet every Saturday and Sunday at 10:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. on myTV 38.