If It’s Expensive, It Must Be Worth It…Right?

I recently made an impulsive and expensive retail purchase:

The Golden Pappardelle

Yes, I’m aware it’s a box of dried pasta. What you may not be aware of is that it cost $8.

I know, I know, it’s a box of dried pasta. My grocery store brand regularly goes on sale for $1.29 and sometimes runs a buy one, get one free sale. I’m crazy…probably. It’s all Ina Garten’s fault. She recommends this particular brand, Cipriani, which is made just like the pasta in their iconic New York City restaurants. After I saw the note in one of her cookbooks, I looked online to order some, saw the $8 price tag (without shipping) and laughed. That Ina, I thought, she’s just a little bit crazy. Who would pay 7 times the cost for something as simple as dried noodles?

Then recently I had a pappardelle pasta dish that was an absolute bowl of heaven. I began searching fruitlessly for pappardelle (which is a flat noodle wider than fettuccine, but not as wide as lasagna). Nobody had it. One day, though, I’m in my local Fresh Market (which is like a small version of Whole Foods), and I know they carry De Cecco brand pasta. Might they have pappardelle?

And there she is, the box of Cipriani, like a beacon…complete with its ridiculous $8 price tag.

No shipping cost, I rationalized. Ina assured her readers it would be great. She wouldn’t mislead me. Nobody has to know.

I snatched it up the box, also finding fresh jumbo South Carolina shrimp, baby portabella mushrooms and asparagus, and I sailed out of that store humming. I made the dish with garlic, butter, olive oil and a little chicken stock, and it was the yummiest thing I’d eaten in months. Between a lot of nodding and mmm-hmming, my family agreed.

The Cipriani pasta was–dare I say it?–as good as freshly made. Just like Ina promised.

Now I can make fresh pasta in a couple of hours for less than $2, and even though I don’t have a pappardelle attachment for my roller, I could probably use my pizza cutter and manage to slice reasonably straight strips, but I but I know the siren’s song of that $8 box with its delicate strips of blonde pasta, wrapped in parchment paper will call again.

Have you ever bought anything expensive and loved (or regretted) it?

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