It took me a little while to realize this. In Manhattan, I can get a pound of fresh pasta from Citarella for $6, their jarred tomato sauce for another $6 (quite enough for a pound of pasta), a lovely block of sufficient Parmesan for $3, enough onion and garlic for like $1 or something - but the garnish, basil, is $5 a bunch. And you can't get a tiny, garnish-sufficient amount either. It also works in the pasta itself, and you might as well throw it in there because you surely aren't going to use the whole bunch if you don't.
So $16/4 ~= $4 per portion for absolutely delicious pasta. And about $5 per portion with basil. Of course, it'll be even better if you make your own tomato sauce and all.
The bare-bones option is: $3 for Barilla pasta, $4 for jarred tomato sauce, and like $1 for onion and garlic. You'll skip the block of Parmesan and basil, of course. But then it's ~$2 per portion. Saving $2 for such a drop in taste is not really worth it. You may skip the cheese, just to avoid eating such a rich meal.
So $16/4 ~= $4 per portion for absolutely delicious pasta. And about $5 per portion with basil. Of course, it'll be even better if you make your own tomato sauce and all.
The bare-bones option is: $3 for Barilla pasta, $4 for jarred tomato sauce, and like $1 for onion and garlic. You'll skip the block of Parmesan and basil, of course. But then it's ~$2 per portion. Saving $2 for such a drop in taste is not really worth it. You may skip the cheese, just to avoid eating such a rich meal.