I find pasta bake a filling and quick meal for the whole family. Having such young children I find it hard to find the time to make a full cooked meal all week. I used to have the home pride make of pasta bake and have recently changed to the Dolmio range because it was on a special deal. I am glad that I have changed because I find it better than the other one.

I use the creamy tomato flavour the most often. This has no artificial colourings and flavourings which is great when I am feeding my children. It holds 131 calories so I find that it is a very healthy meal for the family too. The sauce is an orange colour which is very smooth and covers the pasta very well. I do not add anything to my pasta bakes apart from pasta because my children can be quite fussy. If I am going to cook it for just me and my partner I will be trying to add some chicken to make a bigger meal for us.

The jar is 500g and I use about 6 handfuls of pasta for my meal. This covers the pasta well and gives lots of taste to the meal. This will feed 4 of us with a salad added to the side of my meal. The ingredients in this jar are tomatoes, fresh cream, lemon juice, onions, sunflower oil, tomato paste, white wine, butter oil powder (butter oil, glucose syrup, lactose, milk protein) sugar, modified maize starch, salt, cheese (parmesan) basil, white wine vinegar, bouillon (contains celery), spices and herbs. There are some chunky bits of tomatoes and onions and you can see some green herbs in the jar too. All these ingredients give the meal a strong tomato flavour. This is not suitable for lactose intolerant people or people who have a gluten deficiency.

The cooking instructions are easy to understand. You cook 250g of pasta and place it in an oven proof dish, pour over the sauce and oven bake for 20 minutes. I add cheese to the top of mine and let it melt and brown to give it some added texture and taste. There is so much more that you can add to this meal like chicken or other meat or even some more tomatoes if you wish. There are two recipes on the back one that is the basic meal that I do and one that is with some added extras which gives you an idea of what ingredients you need. My children are not keen on the cheese being added so I cook theirs in the sauce and dish it up and add a salad to the side.

The interesting information that I have found out about this product is that each serving is 1/5 of the daily intake of recommended fruit and vegetables. I like this fact because I try to ensure that my children and I get everything we need for our health. The other interesting information is that once this is opened you are able to refrigerate it for 3 days if you are not using the whole jar or pour it into a suitable container and freeze it so that it will last longer. This is good because the jar is too big for one person and you are able to use it again which makes 2 very cheap and easy meals.

They have a customer care line and address for you to contact if you have any feedback which is a very personal touch and also have a web page that you can visit.

I like this pasta bake because it is full of flavour, I find it very healthy and think that it is full of goodness for the whole family. I find that it is a thick very tasty sauce that complements a meal. The fact that you can add your own ingredients is very good and is able to be adapted to your tastes. It is a suitable sized jar to feed a family of 4 and is easy to open and easy to cook. I think the ingredients that are used a very complimentary and all my children enjoy this meal. I find this sauce the best one that I have tried yet.