Can you really OS on pasta sauce?

Bargain_Rzl

Toxic_Lemon wrote:

Do I want to know what 'woopsie' mince is?

Dare I hazard a guess that woopsie means reduced-to-clear/yellow-stickered?

I'm sure one of the supermarkets (can't think which) has "whoops" written on their yellow stickers

Quasar

studentphil wrote:

Silly question time, what is Passata?

It's tomatoes that have been "passed", so to speak through something like a sieve - after beeing cooked, I believe. It's like puree but not concentrated and it's delicious when fresh. My mum in Italy makes it from the tomatoes we grow in the summer cottage up the hills. She makes it very simple, cooking the tomatoes with bay leaves and garlic and then puts them in jars with lots of extra virgin olive oil - then all she has to do is heat it and use as a pain tomato sauce, or she can add mince or whatever for a bolognese sauce. :drool::drool:

studentphil

Thanks Q!!!

I will get hold of some of passat stuff and see what it is like.

squeaky

studentphil wrote:

Thanks Q!!!

I will get hold of some of passat stuff and see what it is like.

Forgive me for asking, but from what I understand from your posts elsewhere, you are a student who is currently still living at home with your parents? Yes?

So I have to ask student phil if your mummy lets you go shopping for ingredients and then allows you to play in her kitchen making tomato sauces?

Queenie

squeaky wrote:

.....

So I have to ask student phil if your mummy lets you go shopping for ingredients and then allows you to play in her kitchen making tomato sauces?

Let's hope so!!! The more who turn to OS the better

Gingham_Ribbon

Strained tomatoes. The organic one in Morrisons has nothing else added. The cheapy one has salt too.

Doh. Sorry. don't know how I missed all the posts above!

pudding06

I have to confess that I always use lidl's cheap chopped tomatoes for my pasta sauces. I used to use their passata to but for some reason have stopped buying it. I never use fresh tomatoes as they tend to be tasteless here, though I have once or twice in the past( if I ever find lots of good quality fresh plum tomatoes reduced) lol. I have tried other supermarket basics ranges and theyre too watery for me.

I so like one pasta suace thats ready made - lloyd grossmanns chili and tomato one - all of us like it. We hate sweet tomato sauces which rules out just about any ready made ones but these are great. just reallly expensive for a family of 5 adults with large appetites!

i rarely add sugar, but do taste the sauce to see how acidic the tomatoes are and add a pinch at a time to get the balance right.

If making bolognese sauce, and for plain pasta and tomato sauce I always add celery onion, carrot and garlic, which does add natural sweetness.

for pizza topping its olive oil. onion, galic, tinned tomatoes and after reduced to a very thick sauce I add tomato puree.

I use mainly fresh herbs bay oregano, parsley from my pots if possible but use dried if not. I do use lots though - maybe too many!


I do think its each to thier own though. Its lovely to make your own, but its about what you can afford and making the best out of that. It may be that its the same price to buy or make a sauce but its the love that goes into the preparation that makes it so much better too.

happy cooking O S'ers

pudds

newlywed

When I'm feeling lazy I fry an onion with a bit of garlic, add a carton of Tesco Passata with Basil (already added) and then just use that over pasta.

Trow

squeaky, I really think that was uncalled for. If it was funny fair enough, but it just came across as incredibly patronising.

I use the cheap tomatoes (16p for chopped here) and have to say I don't notice much of a difference between the ones I use (Somerfield) and the italian ones - but the Safeway Savers ones were dismal imho.

We did our own family 'taste test' on beans - had Somerfield's value ones, Heinz and Somerfield's own brand. Heinz came out well and truly at the bottom, and there wasn't anything to choose between the other two - again, I have to say that Safeway Savers beans were dismal, los of sauce and not much beans - not the cae with Somerfields though.

Some time ago I saw a programme looking at the nutritional value and taste of the value brands compared to the big brands - they came out equal or top in the vast majority of products with only yogurt being the major loser - but bear in mind there is a difference between brands, so one lot of value tomatoes might be much better or worse than another.

studentphil

Mummy does let me cook and one day I wont live with Mummy so I need to know how to cook these things anyway!!