The discovery
I was strolling through my local Sainsburys last week as you do, when the weekly shopping trip comes around. When I spotted on the end of an aisle these small pots of pasta snacks. I thought, hmm not seen these before, wonder what they are.
My wife said why don't you try ... Read review
Advantages: Handy quick snacks, Reasonably healthy, Tastes actually not too bad, Spoon provided with meal. Disadvantages: Cheese and Ham variety taste disgusting. Fill water level of outside of pot.
...was strolling through my local Sainsburys last week as you do, when the weekly shopping trip comes around. When I spotted on the end of an aisle these small pots of pasta snacks. I thought, hmm not seen these before, wonder what they are.
My wife said why don't you try them instead of a cup a soup for work, with your lunch. As I'll always try anything once, be brave, they can't be that bad can they? I thought at least I might get some ... ...available at present within the Sainsburys range of Quick Pasta snacks are Mediterranean Tomato, Chicken & Mushroom and Cheese & Ham.
Packaging
The pot is circular in shape approximately 4 inches in diameter (100mm) and about 2.5inches deep (60mm) and it weighs in at approximately 75 grams. Imagine if you will a large Muller rice or similar pot, or even perhaps a small soup bowl. The top of the pot is sealed with the ... more
The discovery
I was strolling through my local Sainsburys last week as you do, when the weekly shopping trip comes around. When I spotted on the end of an aisle these small pots of pasta snacks. I thought, hmm not seen these before, wonder what they are.
My wife said why don't you try them instead of a cup a soup for work, with your lunch. As I'll always try anything once, be brave, they can't be that bad can they? I thought at least I might get some experimentation use from them for future Ciao opinions. I picked one of each of the flavours, from the shelf. The flavours available at present within the Sainsburys range of Quick Pasta snacks are Mediterranean Tomato, Chicken & Mushroom and Cheese & Ham.
Packaging
The pot is circular in shape approximately 4 inches in diameter (100mm) and about 2.5inches deep (60mm) and it weighs in at approximately 75 grams. Imagine if you will a large Muller rice or similar pot, or even perhaps a small soup bowl. The top of the pot is sealed with the standard plastic/foil top. On the top is a picture of what the contents are supposed to look like when cooked. Me being me, I thought yeah right, as if it's going to look like that when I add hot water.
Instructions on Use
Quite simple really, boil the kettle. You may even wish to whistle like me for a while during boiling the kettle. No? I thought not. Maybe it's just me that does that then. The instructions on the pot simply said: -
1, Remove lid from pot. 2, Assemble spoon (Ah yes, I'll get to the spoon in a minute) 3, Add boiling water to fill level and stir until completely dissolved. 4, Leave to stand for five minutes before eating. 5, Do not reheat.
Even I can manage that I thought. But no they have to make it a little difficult. The fill level is on the outside of the pot, under the rim. Can you see the fill level from inside the pot whilst filling it with boiling water. No. Needs a little bit of good judgement to get it right. It's not a good idea to pick up a plastic pot full of boiling water, just to see if you have put enough or too much in. Bit of a dangerous point there I think. After trying all three I actually cottoned on to the fact that you don't really need this little marker, because some people may like the snack a little thicker than others, or thinner for that matter, which ever you prefer.
The contents
The kettle was doing its thing, so I thought I better venture into the packaging to see what I'd let myself in for. With some trepidation I peeled back the plastic/foil top to reveal something not to dissimilar to a small Pot Noodle, but with pasta swirls instead of noodles obviously. On top of this was a little clear plastic bag, containing a spoon (they even give you something to eat it with, very generous of them I thought), but wait it was in two bits. No problem, the two parts fit easily together with a gentle click, to give a reasonable sized spoon. Not too big for the pot and not too small that I can't get my ham fists around it.
Mediterranean Tomato - Sort of a red dust with pasta swirls and some other unidentifiable lumps.
Chicken & Mushroom - Sort of a grey/cream dust with pasta swirls and some more unidentifiable lumps (probably chicken and mushroom).
Cheese & Ham - Creamy dust with bits of ham I presume and yes you guessed it pasta swirls.
I suppose they all look a bit funny when you first open them, you can never really tell what's going to spring in to life in the pot when you add the hot water. With the addition of hot water brings the contents alive. They grow from their freeze dried forms in something resembling the picture on the lid. A little stirring as the instructions state, to ensure all the dust material is completely dissolved and not congealed in the bottom of the pot as so often happens.
The smell
The Mediterranean tomato and Chicken & Mushroom, smell like well, Mediterranean tomato and Chicken & Mushroom. No real surprise there then. The Cheese & Ham however is quite revolting, reminded me of a strange tasting tagliatelli dish. It wasn't very appetizing that was sure.
The taste
Surprisingly the Mediterranean tomato and Chicken & Mushroom, again taste like you expect Mediterranean tomato and Chicken & Mushroom should do. The tomato dish looks and tastes like a Bolognese sauce type thick soup with pasta in. The chicken and mushroom is again very much like a creamy soup with pasta croutons, for want of a better word. The cheese and ham variant did taste as bad at it smelled unfortunately and after a couple of mouthfuls I'd had enough. I won't be buying this one again. It may be to some people's tastes, but I'm not a huge fan of tagliatelli dishes, so that probably doesn't help.
The Health Bit
This 75gram pot contains 283 calories, 7.3grams of protein, 55.5grams of Carbohydrate, 2.2grams of salt and only 3.5grams of fat (It doesn't say where this is saturated or unsaturated). So all considered it probably quite healthy, compared to say a bag of crisps or other snacks.
Sainsburys themselves state that this product is free from Nuts, Artificial Preservatives, Shellfish, MSG (Glutamate), Artificial Colours and Soya.
The price
At 75p per pot I feel it is reasonably priced for something that is reasonably filling and quite tasty, well apart the cheesy one that is.
Other similar products from Sainsburys
On closer inspection this week at Sainsburys I see that there are various other brands of similar products for you to try. Sainsburys now appear to even offer Quick Rice Snacks and Quick Mash Snacks in similar sized pots. Not too sure on how these will taste, maybe a future opinion in the making. Sainsburys website is www.sainsburys.co.uk strangely enough and they have information on the product and other similar stuff. You can even do you shopping online with them, though I've never ventured that far yet.
Conclusions
I like the idea of not having to carry an extra spoon to work with me. I love the taste of the Mediterranean Tomato version and the Chicken and Mushroom is not too bad, but I'll steer well clear of the Cheese and Ham flavour in future. Quite a filling snack, and a relatively healthy alternative.
