Heinz Spaghetti, in Tomato Sauce

Heinz have been about forever... well, since 1869 at least... and among their vast array of products you will find Heinz Spaghetti in Tomato Sauce.

Heinz spaghetti comes in a bright yellow tin, with a shaped section on the front of the can that has a red background, which includes the familiar logo at the top and the name of the product in the centre. Heinz products are typically easy to identify, and this one is no different - you're bound to have spotted it on the supermarket shelf. A 400g tin is typically priced around 38p and 200g tins are about 28p.

The main question with branded tinned products is whether they're really any better than the supermarket own brands or other cheaper labels. With the majority of products I'd happily argue that you can rarely tell the difference between supermarket labels and more famous brands such as Heinz and HP... however, with spaghetti it's different!

On opening a can of Heinz spaghetti you can instantly see that the tomato sauce is quite thick, and the spaghetti is long! I have never yet come across another brand of tinned spaghetti in tomato sauce where the spaghetti pieces are long - most supermarket brands seem to chop their spaghetti into pieces no more than an inch or so long. Another thing noticeable on opening a tin of Heinz spaghetti is the smell - the tomato sauce has a nice richness to it that again doesn't always seem to be present in other makes of tinned spaghetti.

Cooking tinned spaghetti is easy, and Heinz spaghetti is cooked in pretty much the same way any other tinned product is - either heated in a pan on the stove, or in a microwave proof dish in the microwave. Whether cooked on the hob or in the microwave the end result is usually the same - no taste difference.

The nice thing with Heinz spaghetti is that even when heated through, the sauce remains fairly thick - I've notied with other brands of spaghetti that once heated the sauce can become quite watery, and in some cases it's almost as though the tomato and the water in the sauce separate. The quality is evident with Heinz spaghetti however - the sauce is thick and plentiful, but without swamping the spaghetti.

All tinned spaghetti's are versatile, so it would be unfair to suggest that Heinz spaghetti is in some way more versatile than others. As with all tinned spaghetti's - it's great on toast or to accompany a meal... it can be pretty much used wherever you might alternatively opt for baked beans. However, my number one favourite use for Heinz spaghetti is in a toasted sandwich! (You really need a proper sandwich toaster if you're going to try this, or else it can end up a bit messy!)

Heinz spaghetti is free from artificial colour, flavour and preservatives which is certainly evident in the taste. Additionally it's also suitable for vegetarians. Nutrition wise, you're looking at 61 kcals and 0.2g of fat per 100g (a typical serving is probably around 200g), therefore it makes for a filling yet relatively healthy part of a meal.

So to conclude then... Heinz spaghetti really is worth paying that little bit more for - you get longer pieces of spaghetti and a nicer tasting sauce. What more do you want from a tin of spaghetti?

Overall rating - 5 stars!