REVIEW: Hello Fresh Superquick Beef Ragu With Penne Pasta And Spinach

I thought I would get another box from Hello Fresh and try new dishes.

HOW IT COMES: Cardboard box with ice packs and isolated bag with bits it, each meal has a paper bag with the recipe number on it to identify with what does with what as well as the recipe cards. Now the boxes and bags are more recyclable than last time plus there are some reusable ice pack in which I am keeping to take to the Yorkshire Three peaks (if you would like to sponsor me then click here, it goes towards Alzheimer's Society). I had a bit of an explosion in my box so everything needed washing otherwise it was covered in soured cream. We received a few samples of coffee bag which I have previously purchased myself and love it.

PREPARATION TIME:

20 minutes

DIFFICULTY LEVEL: Level 2

INGREDIENTS:

• 240g minced beef

• 1 punnet of closed cup mushrooms

• 1 carrot

• 1/2 pot of Italian herbs

• 1/2 sachet of Worcester Sauce

• 1 pack of finely chopped tomatoes with onion and garlic - I received some other type of tomatoes, not finely chopped

• 1 pot of red wine stock pot

• 200g penne pasta

• 1 bag of baby spinach

• 1 pack of grated Italian style hard cheese

UTENSILS:

• Cutting board

• Knife

• Saucepan

• Lid

• Colander

• Bowl

NUTRITION (per serving):

• Energy (kJ) - 3481kJ

• Energy (kcal) - 832kcal

• Fat - 26g

• Of which saturates - 12g

• Carbohydrate - 97g

• Of which sugars - 23g

• Dietary Fiber - 5g

• Protein - 49g

• Salt - 4.29g

INSTRUCTIONS:

STEP 1: Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil with 0.5 tsp of salt for the pasta. Heat a drizzle of oil in a large frying pan on medium-high heat. When hot, add the beef mince and fry, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, until browned, 4-5 mins. Normally when I cook minced beef I never use olive oil.

STEP 2: Meanwhile, roughly chop the mushrooms. Trim and coarsely grate the carrot (no need to peel). When the beef is browned, stir in the Italian herbs, mushrooms and carrot. Cook for another 2 mins.

STEP 3: Stir in the Worcester sauce and simmer until evaporated. Stir in the finely chopped tomatoes and red wine stock pot. Bring to the boil then reduce the heat and simmer until thick and tomatoey, 4-5 mins, stirring occasionally. I don't actually like tomatoes so I would have really cooked the tomatoes down however I had to cut these plum tomatoes that I received as I got the wrong thing sent to me.

STEP 4: Add the penne to your pan of boiling water and cook until tender, 12 mins. Once cooked, drain in a colander.

STEP 5: Stir the spinach through the sauce a handful at a time until wilted. Add the cooked pasta and stir to combine. TIP: Add a splash of water if your sauce needs loosening!

STEP 6: Season to taste with salt and pepper then serve the penne ragu in bowls sprinkled with the hard Italian cheese and enjoy!

Apart from the mishap with the soured cream plus the wrong tomatoes being sent this dish is actually something I would make again. The reason I have marked it down is because of the soured cream spillage.

Purchased from: Hello Fresh

Star Rating: 4/5

Date Tried: Monday 3rd August 2020

This is not a sponsored blog post, I paid for the items however I have got a discount code to share for you click here to get £20 off your first box, so you are aware I will be credited £20 every time somebody uses my code.