Mutti tomatoes

[Puffergalatics]

I’ve always bought cheap tinned tomatoes, switched to Mutti and I can’t believe the difference! Don’t need to add half the seasoning to my spag Bol not to make it not taste so acidic.

If you’ve not tried them, make the switch!

It’s the family who produces them who are called Mutti.

Just on "naice" foodstuffs, I happened upon a tub of Longley Farm cream cheese last week - think it was from my local Sainsburys. Goodness me it's a lot better than Philadephia and had a lot less ingredients.

It's lush isn't it.

They are very good. But the Lidl polpa is almost as good, and considerably cheaper.

If you ever spot President Whipped Cream Cheese, try it. So good

I must give the Lidl polpa a try, as Tesco were completely out of Mutti last time I went in. I ended up buying Cirio which are normally a decent second choice, but there was something about them I didn’t like. Just a touch too acidic for my taste - having said that, I took the edge off with a spoonful of soft brown sugar, and my roasted veg pasta sauce turned out okay. Still not as good as Mutti, though!

Oh, and I cheated with the meatballs. The Tesco finest pork and caramelised onion sausages are great in a pasta sauce if you skin them and roll three small meatballs out of each one. Saves a lot of faff.

Yep they are delicious

There goes my waistline. Where would I find it? We don't have Waitrose or Booths and Sainsbury's is miles away.

Oh, and I cheated with the meatballs. The Tesco finest pork and caramelised onion sausages are great in a pasta sauce if you skin them and roll three small meatballs out of each one

I do that with sausages as well.

Do you have a Morrisons?

I load up when they’re on clubcard in Tesco and the Ciro ones too.

Like a lot of PPs I stock up on Mutti or Ciro finely chopped when on offer, £1 a tin is bearable.

Another reason I like them is that they're finely chopped so you don't have remaining lumps of tomatoes if when CBA to simmer for aaaages. You can just cook them as is - I use the Spicery Legend spice mixes and recipes and quite a few of those tell you to blend canned tomatoes with the spices, but with the finely chopped ones, I can just sling them in.

However, I've had to instruct DP, who can be a bit of a food philistine, on the difference between Mutti tomatoes and the M&S own brand chopped ones we also buy - Mutti are wasted on his fried breakfasts and he doesn't want the finely chopped mush version either.

On the topic of naice foods, can I throw in Bold Beans, especially the Queen butter beans and chick peas into the mix? Also expensive but worth it, but I've now started cooking from dried in bulk to freeze, after tracking down dried jumbo chick peas in a local Asian supermarket chain.

My mind is blown by tomatoes being imported from China though - a quick Google suggests this is more about tomato paste than canned tomatoes. Worrryingly, as well as human rights abuses, it seems that there could be adulteration with artificial colouring to mask fillers and poor quality ingredients.

The tomato shockwave: how one Panorama story is causing massive shifts in a global supply chain | Article | New Food

We do and I will look next time I'm there.

Yes to Bold brand of beans and chick peas @Bjorkdidit

I ended up buying Cirio which are normally a decent second choice, but there was something about them I didn’t like.
Oh no; inspired by this thread, I've just bought two 4-packs of Cirio! (on special offer but still more than I'd usually pay – I tend to buy the ones in the 'World Foods section).

A pinch of bicarb takes the acidity out of tinned toms.