Basil! (Marks & Spencer Count on Us Orzo Pasta)

Member Name: magenta23

Product:	Marks & Spencer Count on Us Orzo Pasta
Date:	12/01/09 (214 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Tasty, low calorie

Disadvantages: Less herbs and would be a winner

Marks and Spencer 'Orzo Pasta with Slow Roasted Tomatoes' is part of their 'Count On Us' (lower calorie) range and can be found in the food to go lunch section of the store.

I'd never heard of Orzo pasta before trying this. It's unusual in that they are tiny grain like bits of pasta that don't look unlike large grains of rice. I can't say this is going to be a new favourite type of pasta, I found it less satisfying to eat that something like Penne or Fusilli. This is a cold pasta 'salad' so it's in more of a dressing than a sauce. The taste of basil is what you get more than anything, which is pleasant but slightly overpowering. The dressing is olive oil based, there are other herbs in this but as I say all I could detect was the basil. The slow roasted tomatoes that were mixed in were delicious, moist and full of flavour. It was a fairly filling lunch, I would buy it again but I'd choose other items before this one.

Being a 'Count On Us' product, it was fairly low in calories. The bowl of pasta is a 320g and the label states in contains 110 calories per 100g. So at under 400 cals for lunch I don't think that's too bad at all.

I think this product is a new one in the range and it was on offer at £2 which I think is very good value, especially for M&S, I think this is just for a limited time however, and being familiar with M&S prices I think the regular price would be more like £3.

All in all not a bad pick for lunch if you want something filling but not too calorific. For me though, a little too strong on the herb front.

Summary: Not bad, but M&S do better than this