On my June Kitchen Table: Super Speedy Eats!

A collection of the foodie products that I have been sent for review, or simply want to share with you this month. It turns they all fit into the category of quick and easy meals, enjoy!

Terra Nostra is, at first glance, a typical restaurant in the centre of St Ginesio, however they also make and sell high quality pasta and I was able try their Truffle Tagliatelle  and dried tomatoes Papparedelle.  Both were excellent quality pasta, the kind that easily retains a bit of bite and the flavourings in the pasta also adds to the dish.  Each pack also contains a sachet of flavoured oil, which has an authentic taste of the herbs or truffle oil as appropriate to the pasta type.

I made a simple seasonal dish of tomatoes slowly roasted in a pan with a little olive oil and garlic, then I added some sliced olives and at the last minute threw in some feta cheese cubes, this was mixed through the cooked Papparedelle al pomodori with the basil oil and made a really delicious and simple supper.

You can buy the Terra Nostra pasta through the e-shop  the prices are in euros and I have no information about purchasing in the UK.  8/10 

I'm not averse to a ready-meal, I always have a pizza in my freezer.  However, I'm not inclined to buy pasta dishes as ready meals as they are so easy to prepare.  I was intrigued by the blurb from Charlie Bigham's " the posh ready meal brand especially for twosomes. It's perfect for when you and your other half want to spend some quality time together, without having to sacrifice the taste!"  We don't have a Sainsbury's or Waitrose near where we live and Ocado don't deliver to our area,  but I managed to find a Sainsbury's on one of my frequent work trips. 

I was supposed to try out the new range of 'world' meals but there weren't any of those available in this store, so I took the chance to get the Moussaka and the Meatballs al Forno.  Each ready meal feeds two (although I did get the Moussaka to stretch to feed three) and costs £7.00. That's relatively expensive, but they are the best ready meals I have tasted, you could easily have thought they were homemade.  Himself was very impressed and enjoyed both dishes.

Another bonus is that the packaging is environmentally friendly using paper and wood rather than plastic, all of the packaging can be recycled.  Bighams recommend that you bake the dishes in the oven, but on one of the nights I was short of time and microwaved the dish for 6 minutes before finishing it off in the oven to crisp up the top.  9/10

June is the month for Scottish strawberries and they taste so much better than the ones that are imported.  I served my strawberries with Yeo Valley Organic Lemon Curd Yogurt, which I saw in the supermarket.  I love lemon curd and found the contrast between the strawberries and the sharp lemony yogurt worked really well. A nice change from cream or plain greek yogurt. 450g £1.50  9/10

Finally, let me Smooze you!  Summer finally came yesterday and the temperatures reached a high of 24C (this is massive for Scotland) it was time to break out the Smooze Fruit Ices.  Smooze is a 100% natural, freeze at home, fruit ice product that is made up of approximately 50% fresh fruit juice and puree and 40% coconut milk.   I tried the Smooze Coconut and Pineapple and himself had the Smooze Coconut and Mango.  Both were light and fresh and not too sweet, a really pleasant alternative to more traditional ices. 
They are really reasonable at RRP £3.99 for a box of 10, they only seem to be available through Ocado or Amazon at the moment. 8/10

I was sent the pasta, ready meals and fruit ices to review, I was not paid for these reviews and all opinions are my own.  I bought the yogurt myself, I just wanted to share my find with you. 

I'm entering the Pappardelle with cherry tomatoes, olives and feta for Simple and In Season, the blogger challenge run by Renatka (Ren) Behan.

It also works for Pasta Please, this one is run by Jac at Tinned Tomatoes and is being hosted this month by Sarah at Maison Cupcake - the theme is 'Fasta Pasta' and this dish was certainly on the table in under 30 minutes.

This month's #SpeedySuppers is also hosted by Sarah at Maison Cupcake, this challenge is jointly run by Sarah and Katie at Feeding Boys and a Firefighter. This month it's all about pasta.