Dolmio advice...

Lookyhere

homers double wrote:

Lookyhere wrote:

i was replying to those who started talking about adding different types of Red and beer/stout to the ragu - italian pasta sauces are peasant food and should be basic and done simply and easily.

It is, adding a glug of Chianti to a pan isn't exactly difficult and trust me, peasants drink chianti at a fraction of the price that we do.

MisterMuncher wrote:

homers double wrote:

Oh and just to add, use steak in your chillie, not mince. People will think you're some sort of deity.

Use cheek and shin, and dark beer (not stout) rather than wine. Takes longer, requires more prep skill, but is worth it in the end. Steak in a slow cook is a waste of money.

You both were making very simple cooking, scary! hence my remark!!
of course throwing in some red is easy peasy - Dont take it so seriously HD, i doubt there are too many peasants in Italy right now

TheBigBean

Joelsim wrote:

I must buy less than 10 ready meals per year. Everything else is cooked from scratch.

Do you grind your wheat and mix in eggs for your pasta, or do you take it off the shelf in the supermarket like most people? I think other bits get added a long way as well.

I might sound like I'm being a bit difficult, but I find that people liberally throw around "from scratch" in a slightly arbitrary way.

Dolmio's sauce is supposedly only a once a week thing based on its original recipe. That is, if you cooked it from from scratch it would also be unhealthy.

To maintain the authentic nature of the recipe, some Mars Food products are higher in salt, added sugar or fat. As these products are not intended to be eaten daily,

Dolmio's game plan is to now sell lots of "Everyday" items.

It is also interesting that fat is still listed as a terrible evil.

bigmat

Joelsim wrote:

The point is, in all of this, it's better for you to use natural, fresh ingredients. Just as quick, healthier and far better tasting.

I must buy less than 10 ready meals per year. Everything else is cooked from scratch.

How can making a sauce from scratch be "just as quick" as using a jar of pesto? Unscrew lid, put in spoon, mix into pasta, done. Sure home made tastes better, but come on, we're talking about quick and easy meals here. Sorry to be the one person who occasionally doesn't have time to whip up my own carbonara (as apparently nobody could possibly be that busy etc etc). I do wish they wouldn't put f***ing sugar in savoury food though, it just makes it taste revolting...

bobmcstuff

So you're saying I should stop drinking four or five dolmios a day.

Bloody nanny state. First it's beer then it's dolmio. What next??

awavey

PBlakeney wrote:

Precisely, They can cook a perfectly good, healthy, sauce during that time.
PS, a good bolognese doesn't need paste.

you say tomato, I say tomato regardless you dont use all of it in one go because everything gets supersized up, so it just sits in the fridge till it goes off, whats the benefit of that, it means Ive then got to keep making meals with it to use it,bearing in mind Id have already made enough bolognese to last 2-3 weeks keeping the healthy varied diet by not eating the darn stuff every night or more than once a week anyway.

joelsim

BigMat wrote:

Joelsim wrote:

The point is, in all of this, it's better for you to use natural, fresh ingredients. Just as quick, healthier and far better tasting.

I must buy less than 10 ready meals per year. Everything else is cooked from scratch.

How can making a sauce from scratch be "just as quick" as using a jar of pesto? Unscrew lid, put in spoon, mix into pasta, done. Sure home made tastes better, but come on, we're talking about quick and easy meals here. Sorry to be the one person who occasionally doesn't have time to whip up my own carbonara (as apparently nobody could possibly be that busy etc etc). I do wish they wouldn't put f***ing sugar in savoury food though, it just makes it taste revolting...

To use an example. Bolognaise.

While the mince and onions are browning, you open a tin of tomatoes/chop some tomatoes, chop some mushrooms, chop a pepper, some garlic and a little basil, add all to the pot with a glass of red wine. 20 minutes later, Bob's your uncle.

Healthier, more veg, no dodgy additives.

joelsim

BTW if any of you like cooking and want something that will make your 'forever' book of recipes, try this. Just joy. I personally use a crackling joint and cut the pork into 2cm square strips (about 8cm long) each with a bit of crackling on top. Marinade it for a few hours and then just bang a portion in the oven and a couple in the freezer.

Serve with either lime/coriander rice or coconut rice (i.e. boil the rice in a tin of coconut milk rather than water).

http://www.food.com/recipe/jamaican-jerk-pork-10467

You won't regret it.

bigmat

Joelsim wrote:

BigMat wrote:

Joelsim wrote:

The point is, in all of this, it's better for you to use natural, fresh ingredients. Just as quick, healthier and far better tasting.

I must buy less than 10 ready meals per year. Everything else is cooked from scratch.

How can making a sauce from scratch be "just as quick" as using a jar of pesto? Unscrew lid, put in spoon, mix into pasta, done. Sure home made tastes better, but come on, we're talking about quick and easy meals here. Sorry to be the one person who occasionally doesn't have time to whip up my own carbonara (as apparently nobody could possibly be that busy etc etc). I do wish they wouldn't put f***ing sugar in savoury food though, it just makes it taste revolting...

To use an example. Bolognaise.

While the mince and onions are browning, you open a tin of tomatoes/chop some tomatoes, chop some mushrooms, chop a pepper, some garlic and a little basil, add all to the pot with a glass of red wine. 20 minutes later, Bob's your uncle.

Healthier, more veg, no dodgy additives.

I was talking specifically about pesto. I agree I would avoid tomato based pasta sauces, although even with making those you're reliant on having all those ingredients and there are weeks when we have pretty much cleared the cupboards / fridge without having had chance to do a shop!

joelsim

BigMat wrote:

Joelsim wrote:

BigMat wrote:

Joelsim wrote:

The point is, in all of this, it's better for you to use natural, fresh ingredients. Just as quick, healthier and far better tasting.

I must buy less than 10 ready meals per year. Everything else is cooked from scratch.

How can making a sauce from scratch be "just as quick" as using a jar of pesto? Unscrew lid, put in spoon, mix into pasta, done. Sure home made tastes better, but come on, we're talking about quick and easy meals here. Sorry to be the one person who occasionally doesn't have time to whip up my own carbonara (as apparently nobody could possibly be that busy etc etc). I do wish they wouldn't put f***ing sugar in savoury food though, it just makes it taste revolting...

To use an example. Bolognaise.

While the mince and onions are browning, you open a tin of tomatoes/chop some tomatoes, chop some mushrooms, chop a pepper, some garlic and a little basil, add all to the pot with a glass of red wine. 20 minutes later, Bob's your uncle.

Healthier, more veg, no dodgy additives.

I was talking specifically about pesto. I agree I would avoid tomato based pasta sauces, although even with making those you're reliant on having all those ingredients and there are weeks when we have pretty much cleared the cupboards / fridge without having had chance to do a shop!

Even so, if you were to do a batch and bang a few in the freezer, then healthier ready-meals on tap.

Ben6899

Plus pesto doesn't take that long to make either. Pasta takes ~10mins to cook so use that time to make your sauce.

Pasta sauce in jars. Seriously.

joelsim

Here you go. The lesson is to cook from scratch as often as possible.

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle ... are_btn_fb

markhewitt1978

Debeli wrote:

Secondly, how does the market for these execrable sauces exist?

Makes you wonder. My wife has an excellent pasta sauce (with doubles as a pizza sauce) recipe and only takes 5 minutes to make. Scoop of garlic (from a jar), tinned tomatoes, italian seasoning & season all, stir it all together, perfect!