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

Labels: #review, Charlie Bigham's, coconut, feta, fruit ices, lemon curd, Meatballs al Forno, Moussaka, olives, papparedelle, Smooze, strawberries, tagliatelle, tomatoes, yogurt

posted by Janice @ 21:08