Do not reheat | tesco spaghetti bolognese

Making a mess of spaghetti bolognese is widely considered to be impossible. Simply bring together a tin of tomatoes, half a pound of economy mince, whatever pasta happens to be lying around at the bottom of the cupboard, an Oxo cube and a pinch of something green from the spice arsenal. Even chives will do - ask any student.

Making a mess of spaghetti bolognese is widely considered to be impossible. Simply bring together a tin of tomatoes, half a pound of economy mince, whatever pasta happens to be lying around at the bottom of the cupboard, an Oxo cube and a pinch of something green from the spice arsenal. Even chives will do - ask any student.

So who is the microwaved SpagBol designed for? Its appeal goes way beyond those who don't like cooking into the realm of those who don't like food at all. Resolutely democratic with no snooty typography or added fanciness, the Tesco Spaghetti Bolognese attracted me solely because I'd already tried everything else in the shop, it was cheap and, being a meal for two, it could probably just about feed me.

It required a daunting nine-and-a-half minutes in the microwave, and then presented itself in a kind of bubbling ochre hue with crusty bits round the outside of the plastic dish. I tried to mix it up the way real Italians don't, but the spaghetti was tangled like a wino's beard and in the end I had to employ a knife - always a sign of defeat when faced with stringy pasta. The flavour raised ordinariness to a virtue. It was mildly meaty, timidly tomatoey and there was none of your weirdo cheese or wine additions. The only real wind-up was its texture, which was of floury homogeneity, and the tongue-dessicating 4g total salt content. I think I prefer my spaghetti al studente thank you very much.