Sacla Stir Through Pasta Sauces

We eat a fair amount of pasta in our house. From pasta bakes, filled pasta, pasta with meals. It’s a really versatile carb that gives you energy (providing you don’t eat too much and end up feeling too heavy!).

These jars from Sacla, which they sent me to try out, are described as “big bold Italian sauces”. Having something like this in the cupboard along with some dried pasta means you will never have “nothing to eat” in the house.

I agree, they do have loads of flavour. And are actually quite versatile. Let me take each in turn:

Vine-Ripened Tomato & Mascarpone

Tomato and mascarpone is a match made in heaven – mmmmm. The blend here is stronger than the milder pasta bake sauce I usually buy, though, it’s lovely – the tomato comes though really well. It’s still creamy though, and worked well with pasta shells and fresh veges for an easy mid-week meal. One of the suggestions on the Sacla website (there are loads of ideas on there) is to use a dollop of this to make mash potato – I will be trying that next time I buy a jar.

Italian Tomato & Olive

I’m afraid to say I’m not a big fan of olives. On their own anyway, I don’t mind them in sauces or cooked in meals. This is a chunky sticky sauce that combines the traditional pairing of tomatoes and olives, and you get both flavours in equal measure. Not my favourite but a decent sauce that stuck to the pasta well and makes a great pasta dish to go alongside a barbecue or pizza fest.

Sun-Dried Tomato and Garlic

This, I felt, was the strongest of the three sauces. If you prefer a mild tomato flavour then leave this one alone, the sun-dried tomatoes are strong and definitely the main flavour of any dish you might use. I made a simple pasta dish with this that we had as a small meal and then for lunch the next day (gotta love leftovers). This is strong enough in flavour to use instead of tomato puree on pizza bases or in other dishes. I really enjoyed this one but my other half wasn’t so keen – like I say, it depends on how strong you like your tomato.

Apart from pasta these three sauces would make lovely potato dishes – one idea is stir the tomato and garlic one with some chicken and bacon and serving with jacket potato and salad. There’s more to pasta sauces than pasta sauce…! Sacla have created some really useful sauces that are full of flavour, a cupboard staple.