Tag Archives: tomato

Food

Marks and Spencer tomato and meatball soup review

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Description: “A chunky blend of tender pork and beef meatballs, tomatoes, kidney beans and rice.” Yep, except the tomato soup base was deliciously passata-esque in texture.

Health: Heavy on the carbs, but OK protein and good fibre, and a mangeable amount of fat and not too bad on the sodium front. 420 calories in all, for the pot, which is OK.

Taste: Wow. The best of M&S’s soups by a long way, so far. Deliciously thick and tasty, well-seasoned with a good amount of spice, you can feel the cayenne and the cumin giving it a little edge whilst the creamy tomatoes and burger-licious meatballs square off on your taste budes.

Full-o-meter: Not too bad at all. Good amount of fibre in there, and the thickness of the soup will keep you going for a while.

Verdict: 4.5/5. With this soup, M&S, you redeem yourself for some of your previous efforts…

Food

Marco Pierre White Glorious Moroccan tomato and chickpea soup review

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Description: “A Moorish tagine-style soup naturally thickened with chickpeas and couscous, finished with traditional spices and a hint of fruit. Glorious!” Again, their copywriters need to calm down.

Health: Not bad – about 390 calories for the pot, high fibre, low fat, but quite low protein too and reasonably high levels of sodium.

Taste: Bleh. I’m beginning to wonder if the addition of “-inspired” or “-style” to any description is an admission that they don’t really know how to spice the soup properly. This soup, whilst well-textured, is pretty bland and the absence of any proper spice or meat makes it a slightly tedious meal. In the interest of full disclosure I should confess that I gave up on it half way through and nabbed a passing sandwich from a lunch meeting I was in.

Full-o-meter: Not bad, was the impression I was getting before I lost interest…

Verdict: 2.5/5. Not getting the strongest impression of the MPW range…

Food

Waitrose tomato, lentil & chorizo soup review

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Description: “A thick hearty soup of red lentils, tomatoes and chorizo seasoned with garlic, black pepper and smoked paprika.” Yep.

Health: Not bad, although heavy-ish for a pot this size – 422 calories for 600g. Low in sat fat, good amount of fibre.

Taste: I do like these Waitrose soups. Rich, thick red lentils, with a nice sharp tang from the tomatoes and a good amount of seasoning accompanied every now and then with a rewarding salty chew of chorizo. Yum.

Full-o-meter: Only had a half pot (with toast) but imagine this would keep you going for a reasonable amount of time.

Verdict: 4/5. A good one; more chorizo, more spice would have boosted the score (I like the spicy chorizo!), likewise a slightly lower calorie count. But a good option!

Food

Eat Italian ragu & pasta soup review – Very Big Bold

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Description: Bits of light pasta suspended in a souped-up (i.e. watered down) beefy tomato ragu, topped with a smattering of delicious fresh parmesan.

Health: Weighing in at a modest 394 calories for the Very Big Bold portion, this is a pretty healthy soup to splash out on. Fat, etc., relatively low, but as with most Eat soups there’s a fair whack of salt in there, especially at the massive portion level.

Taste: This is one of my new indulgences. Having failed my driving test on Friday morning (BOO the DSA), I needed something to cheer me up before a busy client meeting and the rich tomatoey soup, tasty beef morsels and beautifully moreish parmesan are a fantastic tonic.

Full-o-meter: 32oz of soup would fill up most people, without need for bread or additional side. There have been occasions when I’ve struggled to get through it all (I tend to always find a way).

Verdict: 5/5. Tied first with the Eat Chicken Pot Pie soup for deliciousness (review pending, when its day comes up again). It is a good day when Eat serves up the Italian Ragu & Pasta soup.