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Hershey's Chocolate Dunkers

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Pizza Hut's Meaty Marinara and Creamy Chicken Alfredo pastas.

My wife, pregnant with our second child, has been placed on bed rest for about 12 weeks. With a 19-month-old to take care of, our lives have been more hectic and home-bound than usual. So we thought we'd try something different for this review -- delivery. More specifically, we decided to give those new pastas at Pizza Hut a try to see if they could, as the advertising implies, fool us into thinking they were served in a sit-down New York Italian restaurant.

Placing the order

The first attempt at reviewing Pizza Hut's Tuscani pastas proved unsuccessful after the Daleville restaurant informed us they had run out. A week later I decided to avoid rejection by placing the order online. While the Pizza Hut Web site (pizzahut.com) is somewhat cumbersome, if you register you can access the site's best feature -- the ability to schedule the day and time of your delivery in advance.

The pastas come in two varieties: Meaty Marinara or Creamy Chicken Alfredo ($11.99 each). I chose to have one of each delivered the same day at 6:15 p.m.

We invited over some more guinea pigs -- our friend and her two children, ages 4 and 7. At precisely 6:15 p.m., the delivery man pulled into our driveway, carrying two pasta dishes, 10 breadsticks (five come with each pasta) and an order of Pizza Hut's dessert known as Hershey's Chocolate Dunkers. The total came to $36.60, which had already been paid for by credit card online, in addition to a cash tip for the driver.

The food

Pizza Hut claims that each pasta dish serves a family of four, and indeed, with one of each, we had quite a bit left over after serving three adults and three kids. The pasta dishes arrive in foil pans placed inside typical cardboard pizza delivery boxes, and both of them arrived hot. Both are made with spiral-shaped fusilli, and although the pasta was well cooked overall, there were some drier crunchy pieces around the outer edges of each dish.

The marinara pasta was the favorite of all those in attendance, adults and kids alike. It seemed less "commercial" than the chicken alfredo and contained ample amounts of meat (beef and pork) and a layer of mozzarella cheese. The marinara pasta was also better seasoned, with a pronounced taste of tomato, basil and garlic. The dish also contains celery, onions, carrots, olive oil and burgundy cooking wine.

The alfredo pasta contained seasoned white-meat chicken blended with a mixture of cream, Parmesan and Romano cheeses, butter, salt and garlic, among other ingredients. My first few bites of the alfredo resulted in a somewhat bitter cheese taste, but once we stirred the pasta it evened out. The amount of chicken in the alfredo was somewhat paltry, particularly compared to the meaty marinara. As its name promises, the creamy chicken alfredo pasta was indeed creamy and tasted good overall. But contrary to Pizza Hut's advertising, it would not pass for the chicken alfredo served in a good Italian restaurant.

The dunkers are essentially traditional Pizza Hut breadsticks topped with white chocolate and Hershey's milk chocolate -- along with a rich chocolate sauce for dipping. They are warm, rich and messy -- and guiltily delicious. Besides, what's a few more calories (400 per four pieces plus 120 for the sauce) when the pastas are 620 calories (alfredo) and 510 calories (marinara) per serving?

The bottom line

With gas prices climbing higher, ordering in becomes more attractive. While Pizza Hut's new Tuscani pastas won't transform your dining room into an Italian eatery, they're good alternatives to ordering pizza. They offer the added benefit of true "family-style" dining, which you don't get by simply bringing home burgers or subs.