Its'a my Dolmio day (Dolmio Bolognese Sauce)

Member Name: Chantelly

Product:	Dolmio Bolognese Sauce
Date:	22/05/07 (215 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Yummy

Disadvantages: Expensive compared to making your own

Every opinion I write lately makes me sound like a right lazy thing. I'm not honestly, I just really hate spending hours cooking when there really is no need. I don't like preparing ready meals for my family but I have nothing against using sauces from jars.

This Bolognese sauce comes in various varieties; original, extra mushrooms, extra onions etc. and they also do a 'light' one (far too runny for me). I don't like onions or mushrooms so I'm really stuck with original!

+ Packaging +

The packaging is really nice; the green label is striking and stands out against the dark red sauce. It has a picture of tomatoes on the front, obviously the main ingredient (79%) The jar is glass which is a bit of a pain as we can't put glass in our recycling bin, also I often have to pop to the neighbours to get her hubby to open these jars, and I'm hardly nerdy!

+ Preparation +

The sauce is very versatile, I tend to just stick with adding browned mince (350g but i always use 500g) and simmering for 20 minutes (as per the instructions). However you can add your own onions, mushrooms etc. We added a diced yellow pepper, diced courgette and thinly sliced celery the other day when we had friends round and it was gorgeous! My sister swears by adding one finely grated carrot, this disappears as it is cooked but leaves a nice sweet taste. You then just serve it over spaghetti with a green salad maybe.

+ Taste +

The sauce itself tastes strongly of tomatoes (obviously) and is nice and thick (as long as you drain the meat well) although it does tend to thin a bit on cooking. There are no big tomato chunks (good as I don't actually like tomatoes) and there is just an odd small piece of onion in there. The herbs taste really nice and there is just the right amount, they also give the sauce a nice colour. The smell as you cook is really appetising and even drags my son away from the hoobs, which normally requires the house to be on fire!

+ Price and Availability +

Apparently one 500g jar serves four but it just about stretches to 2 and a half in our house. It is quite a nice healthy meal to serve up to the family as 200g of sauce contains 221kj and 1.1g of fat, not bad at all. Obviously using lean mince helps too, as does minimising the amount of cheese you sprinkle on top (if at all, but it is lovely). A 500g jar costs about £1-£1.50 but 'BOGOF's are common in Asda and Tesco. It can be found in virtually every food shop around.

1 serving of the sauce gives you one portion of fruit/veg towards your five a day. They are also free from artificial colours and preservatives.

The product either cooked or not can be frozen, this is great if you want to make a big batch up, although to be honest its so easy to pop on I wouldn't bother.

Recently I have been using a tin of chopped tomatoes, a sprinkling of italian herbs and a bit of garlic instead. This tastes just as nice and is much cheaper, although the convenience factor is no longer there.

For a true taste of italy, go try it.

Summary: A bolognase sauce.