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| Full range of Ilumi sauces |
I like the way they pack their meals, in a very easy to use pouch.
I like the fact that all ingredients and nutritional information is displayed loud and proud at the front of the package.
I like the fact that their ingredients are natural and all free from gluten, nuts and milk.
I've loved the products I've tried so far, so I was very pleased when I was offered the chance to try their range of sauces.
They have developed a range of recipes to make the most of their sauces, which I thought was brilliant, giving me a chance to eat something I haven't had before.
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| Great tomato sauce for a pizza! |
This is the first sauce I tried, the Tomato and Herb Sauce.
All the ingredients are clearly displayed at the front of the pack, and they include: Tomatoes, Water, Onion, Tomato Puree, Vegetable Stock, Olive Oil, Carrot, Cornflour, Sugar, Sea Salt, Thyme, basil, black pepper.
One pouch serves two, and it was plenty to cover two pizza bases (bought at M&S earlier!). There are only 154 kcals per pouch, which I think is very reasonable.
I used their recipe for a topping of caramelised red onion and goats cheese, and it was very very nice, the flavours really go well together!
I really liked the taste of this sauce, the fresh tomato flavour comes through vividly, and it reminded me of when I was a kid and my mum made tomato sauce with the juiciest tomatoes of the season.
The only improvement I would make to this sauce would be in the amount of herbs, as I personally like herbs a lot. What I did was to add some Italian seasoning from my cupboard that complemented the sauce very well.
I was thinking this would be also a great sauce to have with pasta, adding some mushrooms and spinach.
The second sauce I tried was the Sweet Chilli Stir Fry Sauce, with the recipe for Spicy Sweet Chilli Chicken Wings.
I used chicken drumsticks instead, keeping them in the oven for an additional 15 mins to ensure they were cooked properly.
Ingredients: Water, Onion, Sugar, Tomato Puree, White Wine Vinegar, Cornflour, Soy Sauce, Red Chilli, Honey, Rapeseed Oil, Ginger, Sea Salt, Burnt Sugar Syrup, Chilli Powder
I found this sauce was great for that barbecue texture, a bit sticky and sweet, and yet, only 194 kcals per pouch (serves 2), which I though was brilliant.
They say on their website that this is a mild sauce, and it is very mild, perfect for those who don't like over spiced sauces.
I was somehow expecting a very hot chilli sauce, maybe Ilumi would consider launching an additional sauce in the range with an extra hot chilli flavour?
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| I love this marinated beef! |
The third sauce I've tried is their Sweet Soy and Ginger Stir fry Sauce, which is so far my favourite. I am not surprised it was highly commended in the Free From Food Awards 2015 in the store cupboard category.
Ingredients: Water, Onion, Soy Sauce, Rapeseed Oil, Sugar, Vegetable Stock, Ginger, Lemon Juice (sulphites), Cornflour, Garlic, Red Chilli, Lime Leaves, Lemon Grass, Galangal, Sea Salt, Chilli Powder
This sauce is a bit higher in calories, at 228 kcal per pouch
The recipe offers two ways of serving the marinated beef, over lettuce leaves or on rice noodle nests as a starter for four, which was fun to make.
Both options tasted really nice, and I loved the nooddle presentation.
Overall, I thought the sauces I've tried so far are of a very good quality, easy to use and very convenient in their pouches. They also have a long shelf life, so ideal to keep for those days when you want to make something a bit special but don't want to make everything from scratch, and very reasonably priced at £1.79 on their website.
And I still have two more sauces to try, looking forward to it!
You can download their recipes here:
http://www.ilumiworld.com/magazine/2015/5/complete-sauce-recipe-collection
For more information about Ilumi visit: http://www.ilumiworld.com/
