Creamy Tuna Pasta Bake

If you know me I don’t really like using bottled jars and sauces or any kind of ready made meals. I always prefer to cook from scratch but when asked to try the new Five Brothers range of pasta bake sauces, I’d thought I’d give them a try. I’d actually heard people say how much they taste like homemade and I’m all about the taste.

The new Five Brothers pasta bake range is proudly made
in Australia and remains true to the Cucina Rustica traditions of only using the
finest ingredients to make extraordinary meals. The heritage of the Five Brothers brand can be
traced to a small village in Tuscany, Italy. Five brothers (Vittorio, Raphael,
Marcello, Dante and Christophe) who were experts of
Cucina Rustica (rustic Tuscan cooking) were renowned for using fresh quality
ingredients to make extraordinary dishes. Each brother had a special talent he
brought to making the pasta sauces and together they became the inspiration for
the Five Brothers brand.

The meal couldn’t have been any easier to put together. It was a matter of pouring the jar of sauce http://identyme.com/Paulsen into a casserole dish and topping with a little water. Mix in the tuna (and any vegetables you wanted), two cups of uncooked pasta and top with grated cheese. Pop in the oven for 20 minutes and the meal is on the table.

I was pleasantly surprised at how authentic the flavours really were without having that ‘fake’ taste typical with sauces in jars. The best part was how quickly it was to prepare and cook in the oven, cooking the pasta in the sauce. I’ll definitely be keeping a couple of jars of these in the pantry for quick, easy dinners.

  

The new range of sauces also include Dante’s Creamy bacon with Parmesan Cheese and Christophe’s Creamy Tomato, Garlic & Basil. I can’t wait to give them a try.

Disclaimer: I was given a free jar of each of the above sauces to try. All photos and opinions are my own. 

Creamy Pumpkin Bake

Since the kids started school, I’ve been taking them away for a holiday for a week when school breaks up for the year. We like to go to the beach or, in particular, to a place near the beach but with a pool. I’m not that keen on them being in the surf since I’ve been on my own. Its hard to watch them especially when the surf can be so unpredictable. If they were a little more confident in the water, I wouldn’t mind. Anyway, we’ve been heading out for our one week away usually with a budget of $1,000. That’s right. Its not cheap and considering everyone else is wanting to go away at the same time, these accommodation places can cash in.

But how would you like to win a holiday a year for 10 years!  Lenard’s Chicken here in Australia are giving one lucky person the chance to win a holiday once a year for 10 years to the value of $4,000 per year. How good would that be? All you have to do is share a special moment from around your dinner table via their Facebook page. It could be your signature dish, a celebration, your child’s first attempt at cooking dinner, anything. Me? I’m not sure I’ve got anything I could submit. There’s not much to celebrate at my dinner table with my fussy eater so I guess I’ll be chugging along each December to a beach house but I’d love for one of you to be in it to win it.

As for the creamy pumpkin bake, I picked up a whole Char-Grilled Split Chicken Tikka from Lenard’s last time I was there and oh my goodness. It was one of the nicest things I’ve ever tasted and you know me and how I like to cook everything from scratch. I wanted an easy side to go with it so while the oven was on cooking the chicken, I sliced some pumpkin, layered it with onions and covered it with a mixture of cream with a half a teaspoon of curry powder thrown in. It was absolutely delicious and one that I’ll cook a lot. My chicken was a little darker than I would like so next time I’ll cover with foil for three quarters of the cooking time and remove towards the end of cooking.

Creamy Pumpkin Bake

• pumpkin, thinly sliced
• 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
• cream
• curry powder according to taste
• grated cheese (optional)

1. Layer pumpkin and onions in a baking dish.
2. Mix curry powder into cream and pour over pumpkin. (If you don’t have enough cream to half fill the dish, add chicken stock.)
3. Bake, covered, in a moderate (175 deg C or 375 deg F) oven for approx 30 minutes or until pumpkin is soft.
4. You could add cheese to the top if desired.

Shout yourself an easy meal tonight from Lenard’s and check out their competition online and good luck!

Disclaimer: I received a voucher to sample Lenard’s products. All thoughts, opinions and photos are my own.