Batchelors Pasta 'n' Sauce

...about the same.
Batchelors being a fairly well known brand, I'm assuming these are made readily available pretty much everywhere.

OTHER VARIETIES...

Yes there's even more to choose from. If you get bored with one flavour move on the next as there's a good variety in the range. The flavours I've seen are spaghetti bolognese, chicken and mushroom, macaroni, chicken and garlic, and mild cheese and brocoli, though ...
...ABOUT BATCHELORS...

Batchelors is apparantly the leading brand in the UK today for foods like instant soups, canned vegetables, dry sauces, noodles and side dishes. They are known to produce recognizable items in their range such as Bigga and Mushy Peas, Cup-a-Soup, and SuperNoodles.

Thanks for reading, and
Bon Appetit!

x majiggy x  ... more

I love Pasta and I'm lazy in the kitchen, so Bachelors Pasta N' Sauce is a convenient ready meal and fits the bill for someone like me. Requiring little preparation time on the oven hob or microwave tray it has become quite the regular in my cupboards at home.

PACKAGING...

Packaged in a brightly coloured pouch like blue packet, all the flavours of the Bachelors pasta family immediately attract shoppers. My particular favourite - the tomato, onion and herbs is the one I'll be reviewing. The packs image of a forkful of the piping hot twisty coils of pasta looks very tempting and very tasty. It tells us at the bottom that it can be served as a snack for one, or for two as part of a main meal. Every so often I share, and when I feel like it I have it as a snack all for me!

THE PASTA...

When you tear open the packet, eager for the finished product, you'll be faced with 128g of the powdery dry mixture of pasta and sauce. It won't look particularly appetising at first but once hot and prepared, believe me it'll look gorgeous.

COOKING METHODS...

There are two preparation methods to choose from. The good ole' microwave or on the oven hob and both methods will take about the same duration of time which is 8 to 10 minutes. Both methods are clearly printed on the back of all packets as well as the extra ingredients required. The most important and most necessary ingredient to add to the pasta is the water, and you'll need 425ml or three quarters of a pint. 15g or half an ounce of butter or margarine is optional, and in some pastas in the range you can add milk though this flavour doesn't require this.

TO MICROWAVE:

Empty packet contents into 2.4 litres/4 and a half pint bowl suitable for cooking in the microwave.
Add boiling water (and butter if using)
Cover with microwave film and pierce in several places
Cook on full power for 8 to 10 minutes (there is details available on the packet of different times appropriate to different oven wattages on microwave ovens) Stop and stir twice during cooking but be careful as it will be very hot and may boil over.
Remove from microwave
Stir and cover and stand for about 5 minutes until the sauce thickens.

TO COOK ON THE HOB:

Place water (and butter) in a saucepan and bring to the boil
Stir in pack contents
Boil gently and stir occasionaly for 8 to 10 minutes until the pasta is soft
Sauce will thicken gradually on standing

Personally I've always used the hob option, mostly because I see the microwave option being a bit of a hassle despite it being relatively straight forward. I'd have to get microwave film and I don't like the sound of the possible boiling over warning. Although I love the microwave - such a handy device, I'm much more comfortable cooking something like pasta on the hob where I know what I'm doing.

The on the hob option does have it's drawbacks though, despite it's ease and convenience. I feel to get perfect pasta it requires some attention to get the perfect result, and this attention also comes in handy to avoid the all familiar sticking to the pan that's an annoyance to whoever does the washing up. Stirring it every so often will lesson the chance of this happening as well as turning down the heat as the cooking time progresses, if you had it up fairly high to begin with.
Now I'm a bit of an instructions geek, so when my brother proceeded to cook the pasta the other day by shoving in the dry mixture into the pot with the unboiled water first before heating it, I told him he was doing it all wrong. He even left the kitchen many times preoccupied with something or other, and because he hadn't brought the water to the boil first before emptying the contents in it took him much longer to prepare. Silly guy! I warn you against this method - unless you want to add a few more minutes cooking time and have a lot more patience!

YUMMYNESS FACTOR AND SMELL...

This pasta tastes just great. A real mix of tangy tomato, herbs and onion. In the mix there is also parsley and oregano. The pasta once cooked is creamy, and delicious, soft and very moreish. It's perfect to add to a main meal, but does very well on its own too. A bowl of this will fill your tum nicely and may even leave you wanting more! The smell of this hits you once you add this to boiling water, the spicy tang of the tomato entices your taste buds and is really very satisfying.

NUTRITIONAL INFO AND INGREDIENTS...

On the back of the pack there's a list of the usual nutritional details and ingredients. Per packet the calories stand at 470 but this will be less of course if you share the contents. The pack is helpful then in listing the values of a half a packet serving. 235 calories, 1.4g of fat, of which saturates 0.4g.
Main ingredients are of course the pasta spirals, tomato powder, egg, sugar and wheatflour. Those with any allergies should obviously read the ingredients carefully.

PRICE AND AVAILABILITY...

I buy mine from Asdas and it comes at a very reasonable 68p. There's even a buy 4 for £2 offer on. I'm unsure of other supermarket or smaller shop prices but I'd imagine it'd be around about the same.
Batchelors being a fairly well known brand, I'm assuming these are made readily available pretty much everywhere.

OTHER VARIETIES...

Yes there's even more to choose from. If you get bored with one flavour move on the next as there's a good variety in the range. The flavours I've seen are spaghetti bolognese, chicken and mushroom, macaroni, chicken and garlic, and mild cheese and brocoli, though there may be others I haven't mentioned. I've only ever tried the bolognese out of the listed group and it was very nice. Will probably try it again, but it seem the tomato onion and herbs however simple will remain my favourite for now. I'm not very brave when it comes to trying some new food I've never had before. Only recently did I bite into my first brussel sprout. Surprisingly it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be but saying that, it's definitely not something I'd jump at the chance of trying again!

MY FINAL VERDICT...

I really couldn't reccomend this ready meal pasta more. It's very tasty, very easy to prepare, and requires only a short cooking time which really suits me fine.

A LITTLE BIT ABOUT BATCHELORS...

Batchelors is apparantly the leading brand in the UK today for foods like instant soups, canned vegetables, dry sauces, noodles and side dishes. They are known to produce recognizable items in their range such as Bigga and Mushy Peas, Cup-a-Soup, and SuperNoodles.

Thanks for reading, and
Bon Appetit!

x majiggy x 

...less