Rana - Tuscan Ragu Pappardelle - lunch inabox [@NLi10]

 I decided to stock up on bigger lunches for when two slices of bread isn't quite enough - and the first of these is this Rana Tuscan style Pappardelle

It's essentially a very basic meal kit but as everything is in the box that's fine

You can even queue for the office microwave and make this in 5 mins, and all your co-workers will hate you!

But at home it's easier in the pan. plus this seems messy to make in public in the tray

Only 3 pouches though - what could go wrong?

Oh - ragu goes in first - not pasta - whoops

That's better, it's a lot meatier than it looks here - good thick sauce

Gravy's up nicely and the fresh pasta has a great texture.

You can add all the cheese if you are mad, I added a sprinkle, but I think it's balanced for the salt - so maybe not so mad.

Lovely thick sauce with deep flavours.  I'll be having this one again.

Worth noting the date on this was great - it's been in the fridge waiting for weeks and was still in date.  Win!

Italiamo - Farfalle al limone - pasta with lemon (Lidl) [@NLi10]

 Occasionally we pick up the expensive Italian pasta from farm shops, and italian delis - and sometimes we pick them up from Lidl!

They have good contacts in Europe so we get good quality random euro products for budget prices - and that's what we have here!

And while it's not quite the peak quality stuff, it's certainly better than your normal pasta - and the lemon flavour is more of a gentle hint than I'd hoped.  This coupled with the other strong Italian flavours of olives and pesto though creates a lovely little lunch and is well worth hoping they still have some left of next time round.

Rana Sicilian Style Caponata [@NLi10]

 It's Rana time! We are definitely part of the Rana family and love picking up the new versions as they come out.

This one is an odd one - aubergines, tomatoes, onions & capers. All quite strong flavours and ones that I like.

It says to add tomatoes too - but we didn't spot that and were just having them as a late snack.

Always cook for the indicated time so that it's neither runny or hard inside - like eggs I guess.

And here we see them, with a little balsamic thrown on top for added pizzaz.

The usual 'chopped not blended' Rana ingredients really benefit here - there is great textures and deep flavours here.  I do think that the sweetness of the sun-dried tomatoes would have been a bonus and it'd work better in a full meal but I'm sure we will keep buying this one as it's a nice side dish.

Heinz The Godfather Pasta Sauce (Waitrose) By @Cinabar

When Heinz made this new product, I guess they were making an offering I couldn’t refuse. Sorry. Inspired by the legendary movie, we have a new sauce in town: Heinz The Godfather Pasta Sauce. I picked this up because of the novelty and the film reference. There is authenticity, though, and it is made as per Peter Clemenza’s instructions in the film. 

I made a mistake here; I thought this was a jar of pasta sauce, and as such, I also bought a packet of meatballs to have with it. It turns out it wasn’t a jar of pasta sauce in the sense that it was a sauce that needed meat; it was a complete package with mini meatballs already in it. So we ended up having a lot of meat in the ratio with this! The meatballs in the jar are small and not like the drawing of the front of the jar, or indeed, the ones I added. 

Anyway, I cooked some pasta (not spaghetti, oops), made the sauce with large meatballs, and served. The pasta had a lovely aroma, and I could pick up on the garlic, tomato, and really nice herbs. 

Taste-wise, it needed the proper meatballs; the ones included were small and not that flavorful. With the large meatballs, it worked well. The flavours were fresh and rich, and the contrast of meatballs and tomatoes was lovely. This sauce worked well. I’m not sure I’d buy this Heinz The Godfather Pasta Sauce again, though, just because of the mini meatballs inside the jar. They didn’t add value, and I’d rather add the meat element myself. 

Tagliatelle Carbonara for Lunch - but in a microwave?! Rana (@NLi10)

I like the Rana range so while in Sainsbury's I picked this one up to have while my partner was out.  Upon closer inspection it isn't really an evening meal kit - it's a bung in the microwave for lunch kit.

This isn't a problem - I have lunch alone too - and if this works I can take it to the office (if I can find them again).

Packed 1 is 'fresh' pasta.  I stay away from fresh pasta usually, but this seems like a decent reason to use it.

Pack 2 is the salsa fresca (fresh sauce I believe) which is ham & cream essentially.

Pack three is the green white and black dust to add at the end to taste.

Make a nest.

Add the paint (& stir) then nuke in the microwave (back inside the box - clever) for 4 1/2 mins

Add the powders and mix and stand for a minute and eat!

And the verdict?  If you put this in a proper bowl you could just about get away with serving this in a low grade restaurant (think Italian chain) and it's actually better than some Pub carbonaras I've had.

I mean - it's not Italy standard (except for that one place...) but I was pleasantly surprised and with a bit of preparation I could easily have these at work and be very satisfied.

I didn't use all the cheese as I prefer the pepper, but even then it made me very thirsty - next time I'll bring some San Pel!

Basil & Pine Nut Ravioli (Morrisons UK) @NLi10

 Quick dinners are great.  Italian quick dinners are even greater!  Spotted this on my first actual supermarket visit in AGES and couldn't resist.

Box opened and then cardboard put back on so it's less shiny!

This is the classic filled pasta treat.  And as they are gradually getting more luxurious I'm buying even more.

And look - they sold me fresh bread to go alongside it.  Yum!

Boil lightly for 4 mins - done!  Enjoy the pesto and basil scents.

And look at this for a sophisticated (yet light) dinner.  I'd have had a little more chunky pine nuts in the ravioli purely for texture, but this was amazing and good enough to get me to go back to Morrisons.

Jamie Oliver Carbonara Tortelloni - little pasta parcels (@NLi10)

Jamie made my favourite ever UK Carbonara, then he changed it so it wasn't as good and his restaurants all closed.  I've had better Carbonara at Italian restaurants in Italy (of course) .

Here we have a home version - but how traditional is it?

Looks fairly like recipe one to me - yippee!

Boil water - time - eat!

Serve with bunny ears of Olive bread and actual olives and defend from cats due to enticing aroma.

And...?  Well they are fine.  Giovani Rana does better blends of pasta parcel - chopped not blended of course so they still have texture.  This is quite basic paste in luxury pasta.  Enjoyable light meal - but without all the additions I'd be convinced this was a stores-own brand pasta, not a top chef.

 

Jamie Oliver Tortalloni - Bolognese Flavour (@NLi10)

 You can do a lot in 4 mins - include make yourself this authentic Italian Tortelloni.  Look at the Jamies on the box, dreaming of being in Italy.

Today we are eating the one on the right - because my veggie partner had the other one.

These pre-made pasta parcels are really good, I'm guessing they are fairly cheap to make and they keep for a good month so you can have some stashed away. 

We've talked about the Giovani Rana ones before - and these look to be of a similar luxury quality.  The store own ones tend to be a bit meat pastey...

All kinds of stuff in there!!

And here is Jamie claiming to have invented the concept of ravioli - which is why his Italian restaurant chain is  a little hard to grasp.  Still - his team were responsible for the best Carbonara I've eaten outside of Italy (then they changed the recipe - fools)

Boil water - add pasta - hey Siri, timer 4 minutes.

And you get this

Overcook and they become hard or soft depending on the ingredients and the bit you are looking at.  Slotted spoon necessary so you don't have a bowl full of boiled water.

Here I just added a dash of balsamic, the second day I had them with a full salad.

And the verdict.  They are fine.  The flavours are a bit muted, and it's all a bit pastey after the chopped version that is Rana.  There were little suspicious crunchy bits too making me think that some bone had crept through...  The pasta was great quality and where most of the money went.  The sauce didn't really survive cooking.

The experience was of a fine lunch though (or small evening meal in our case) and something with a bit of nutrition that you could trust a teenager to make.  It's basically a step up from noodles in a pot, but only just.

Not sure I'd go out of my way to get these again, but as the special offers appear I wouldn't say no.

So not at the top of the Jamie range (I think the sausages were great) but not something that's all brand and no substance.

Loyd Grossman’s Pasta Italia Sundried Tomato & Basil (Morrison’s) By @SpectreUK

I usually have a pot noodle once a week or so when Cinabar and her mom have a pizza night. I'm not fussed with pizza. I used to like it, but went off it some years back after Pizza Hut stopped making my favourite, Carne Amanti… sad times. Pizza to me is very filling and often a bit too greasy for my diet. Tonight I fancy pasta, so this Loyd Grossman Pasta Italia Sundried Tomato & Basil seems like a quick low calorie and low fat healthy pot. It also saves time spent on lengthy preparation or messing with a TV dinner in our new fangled microwave oven.

The pot has a photograph with Loyd Grossman looking strangely younger than I remember him on TV. He states that this Pasta Italia is a "quick and easy way to enjoy great tasting Italian inspired pasta and sauce". I'll hold him to that, as it's supposed to be ready in 5 minutes after adding the freshly boiled water and replacing the lid for a while before stirring. This pot contains penne pasta in a tomato and basil sauce mix. I do like tomato and basil soup, so I'm expecting to like this Pasta Italia.

While the kettle boiled I popped a piece of bread into the toaster, and prepared myself a simple diced tomato, apple and baby beetroot salad (beetroot… "bluurgh" said Cinabar)… As you can see from the photograph on opening the pot there was some dried pasta and powdered sauce mixed together at the bottom of the pot. The mark to add the freshly boiled water was on the outside of the pot, which I haven't seen before, and that confused me a little as there was also an indent at the top of the inside of the pot.

Even adding in the correct amount of water and leaving the pot to stand before stirring, this Pasta Italia seemed to be missing something… oh, yes… flavour! Even with the correct amount of water in the pot it felt like the flavour was watered down considerably. It tasted like pasta in tomato and basil sauce in a bucket, so excuse me if I felt a little robbed. I reckon it needed a whole lot more powdered sauce to make this Pasta Italia Sundried Tomato & Basil a proper flavoursome meal.

Information on the cardboard pot;
each 283g pot contains 218 calories, with 0.8g of fat, 14.4g of sugar, and 1.64g of salt. With no artificial colours or preservatives, the ingredients included; penne pasta (51%)(durum, wheat, semolina), tomato powder, sugar, garlic powder (5%), sundried tomatoes (3%), sea salt, yeast extract powder, dried basil (0.5%), and (more) salt.

Corn, Brown rice, Quinoa - but as Mafalda Corta 'pasta'! (@NLi10)

There are few things I like more than good pasta.  So - when doing online orders I often sneak a bag of a luxury shape into the basket.  This time I went for a new gluten free pasta that looked fun - then I forgot.

Consequently when I used 5 different varieties to make this I didn't even notice and ate gluten free pasta as part of the mix.

You can best see the fins hiding at the top right.

But what about without the really strong sauces? 

Well - it's not quite pasta - but it's pretty good!  I suspect I overcooked it a little here as it's not al dente, but there is still a little bite to it.  It has the courser texture that you expect from gluten free products, but not in a way that it sticks out.

Overall, with our 'stir fry salad' it worked really well - a little bit grainy, a little bit pasta-like.  I don't think it'll replace the normal Garofollo pasta range for me, but I'm happy that my gluten free friends and family have something close to indulge on.

Lockdown Snacks - Spilva Kiploku, Lithuanian Pasta Bake (@NLi10)

Ah - well it's still easy enough to get foods - but maybe not what you'd usually go for - or exactly what the recipie requires.  Case in point - its easy to get Pasta - but Pasta Bake sauces?  Couldn't find one.  So I just grabbed a red sauce and added a bit of water.

This is a Lithuanian brand of garlic (guessing) sauce which looked fab and so was our designated dinner.  Like I mentioned I rinsed the jar out and used that (mixed in) to make it more of a pasta bake.

And here we have 5 kinds of pasta - different shapes and brands - long, wavey, letters, circles, spirals.

All kinds of yummy and with different adsorption and textures it makes it quite fun.

One cheesy side for the veggie, one olive side for me, and three 'bake at home' breads we had at the back of the cupboard.  Yum!

The sauce had a little chilli kick too, and was far to tomatoey for what we used it for with a massive hit of garlic.  Amazing. Definitly going to try a bolognaise with this at some point too.

Proof that humanity can survive in after The Event as long as pasta & olives are still available.

UGO - Exciting little pasta parcels (@NLi10)

Waitrose has great unusual things - and they do great Italian food!

Here we see a lovely pair of veggie and non veggie pasta parcels.  I had the chicken and Chorizo version.  They look great and cook in three minutes.  The bread took a little longer.

So tasty even the review cat wants some!

Maybe not as strong flavours as the real thing, or even Rana brand stuff, but still very good.

Forgot to get a pic of the beetroot ones sadly!

The garlic bread hover was amazing, just the right balance of crispy and chewy.  All in all a good reason to pop to the actual store instead of shopping online where it's harder to spot things like this.

Pumpkins & Pasta - Halloween Treats (@NLi10)

While getting the amazing chocolate pumpkin lollies I spotted more Halloween treats. Yay!

These are clearly going to be amazing!

Boo is right, at least they taste ok, but these are too small to satisfy without the Choc of the peanut butter cups. I’d give them to treaters if I wasn’t afraid of allergies...

What else do we have? Novelty pasta?

With spooky garlic themed things?

Three cool shapes - spiders and bats and pumpkins! And we have plain, orange and squid ink black varieties too! 

We had to remove the black ones to make them Veggie friendly. It worked! The shapes were more exciting than the quality of the pasta but it was a good meal and I forgot to take a picture. 

So here is my team on Halloween. 

Stay spooky!