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We must admit, after seeing the ads about customers being duped into thinking restaurant-quality pastas were actually Pizza Hut's new Tuscani Pastas, our interest was piqued. Recently, we had the opportunity to sample some Tuscani Pasta; the Premium Bacon Mac 'N Cheese, to be exact. While we have to admit we wouldn't be fooled into thinking it came from the kitchen of an Exec Chef, it did have a number of appealing qualities about it.

The dish had a nice creamy consistency and was studded generously with lean, smoky, chewy bacon bits throughout. The rotini noodles, a favorable and popular pasta choice due to their ability to capture cheese or sauce in their grooves, were also not overcooked and mushy, which was another pleasant surprise. Perhaps the most attractive distinctions these new pastas offer are the time and cost savings. For a mere $12.99 (roughly $3.25 pp), one can easily feed a family of four without dirtying (or cleaning) a single pot or frying even one piece of bacon. We don't know about you, but for us, time is money and the cost factor of time maximizing alone could be added to that $3.25 pp. Not to mention, the relative cost of the ingredients—namely bacon and cheese—make the endeavor worth it. Another plus is that it's user-friendly for everyone, meaning one could phone (luddite), text (travels/commutes a lot) or place an online order (resourceful multi-tasker).

We are not saying that ordering in by any means takes precedence over homemade (nor, by the way, is Pizza Hut), but it is certainly worth exploring at least on those rare occasions one could use a few extra minutes to oneself and want an alternative to pizza.

As far as a downside, we are sure the dish isn't weight-watchers friendly (what macaroni and cheese worth eating is?) and personally, we would have liked the dish to have a bit more spice to it (garlic powder, cayenne, maybe some Italian breadcrumbs on top). However, we also understand the massive amounts of R&D that undoubtedly went into the idea and the need to make it appealing to the masses.

Phillyist would like to invite you to decide on your own whether the Tuscani pastas are worth it. We will arrange for the first three users to answer the following questions correctly to sample a Tuscani pasta dinner for four, free of charge. Make sure to get your answers in by the end of the day on this Friday, 10/24/08!

Note: If you win, a notification will be sent to you at the email address you provide in the contest form, usually a day or so after the contest ends. So please keep an eye on your inbox and junk mail folder for a message from us, especially if the giveaway is for tickets to an event that is coming up soon. Thanks.

Image via Pizza Hut