Tesco Finest: Sundried Tomato, Garlic and Basil Pasta Sauce

...holding up a jar of Tesco Finest Sundried Tomato, Garlic and Basil Pasta Sauce. Basil is another thing that I've never liked very much - but I felt it was only fair to show some enthusiasm.

I have brought a few things from the Finest range and know that they represent good quality although they can be slightly more expensive than similar products. However, at £1.45 for a 290g jar I reckon this was good value. The sauce itself is quite ...
...in it, it contains Extra Virgin Olive Oil. The thing that really impressed me was that it was actually produced in Italy for Tesco.

Oddly, there are no instructions on the jar telling you how to cook it. What my husband did (I being too unwell to concern myself with such matters) was cook up a pan of pasta (Penne is good for this) and then stirred the sauce into the cooked pasta - and that was it - simple! In fact, for two people you ... more

I've never been a big fan of Italian food, pizza bores me after the first mouthful and and I'm not too keen on pasta dripping in sauce.

But, from time to time, especially when I'm short of time - and money - I'll buy a jar of pasta sauce, cook up a big pan of pasta, et voila! (I know, wrong language) you have the Italian equivilant of fast-food.

Over the years I've brought different brands of sauce, some have been OK and others have been fairly awful, and because I've never especially enjoyed them I've never been loyal to any one make.

A couple of weeks ago I was struck down with the flu -oh I felt ill, too ill to cook and way way too ill to go food shopping, which left my husband in charge of the catering. Bless him, he means well, but when he presented me with a bowl of his home-made soup for the third meal running I pleaded with him to go to the supermarket and buy something more substantial (by which I meant "edible")

I could have bet money that he would return with a jar of pasta sauce and sure enough a short while later he was proudly holding up a jar of Tesco Finest Sundried Tomato, Garlic and Basil Pasta Sauce. Basil is another thing that I've never liked very much - but I felt it was only fair to show some enthusiasm.

I have brought a few things from the Finest range and know that they represent good quality although they can be slightly more expensive than similar products. However, at £1.45 for a 290g jar I reckon this was good value. The sauce itself is quite thick with chunky bits of tomato and flecks of basil in it, it contains Extra Virgin Olive Oil. The thing that really impressed me was that it was actually produced in Italy for Tesco.

Oddly, there are no instructions on the jar telling you how to cook it. What my husband did (I being too unwell to concern myself with such matters) was cook up a pan of pasta (Penne is good for this) and then stirred the sauce into the cooked pasta - and that was it - simple! In fact, for two people you only need half a jar of sauce - just enough to coat the pasta.

And was it good? Wow! it was good, in fact it was better than good it was really, really nice. The flavour of the sundried tomatoes is intense, but the basil and garlic are quite subtle and don't dominate, although you know they are there. You could, if you wanted to, add some crispy bacon but with a sauce this good you don't really need to play around with it.

The good news is, that once opened, a jar will keep for up to 2 weeks in the fridge and unopened jars keep for about 2 years.

Last week we had the second half of the jar - and no, I had'nt been delirious the first time I'd eaten it - it really is delicious. I'm laying down supplies for all those times that you need a quick, cheap and filling meal

 

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