Spinach and ricotta-stuffed pasta
Marks & Spencer ravioli
250g, £2.49
Succulent filling that tastes like ricotta and spinach, which judging from this lot is the exception to the rule. The pasta has a good flavour and looks fresh.
*****
Budgens tortellini
250g, £1.89
Way too much nutmeg, but it brings out the flavour of the spinach, so at least this one tasted of something.
***
Asda tortellini
500g, £2.28
A slight hint of cheese here and at least it has more than a pin head's worth of filling.
***
Co-op tortellini
250g £1.99
Dry and salty. Looks shrivelled, probably because there is nothing inside the pasta to fill it out.
*
Pasteria Italiana from Aldi
400g, £1.29
We're not sure this isn't from the last batch. No filling and what's there doesn't resemble spinach or ricotta. It's closer to glue.
*
Four cheese pizza
Dr Oetker Ristorante
340g, approx £1.99, available from Safeway and Waitrose, www.oetker.co.uk
Thin, with a crispy crust and lots of flavour. Has a delicious pesto topping, too.
****
Co-op
330g, £2.99
Not bad at all. The base is thin, the dough is light and this is the best-looking of a surprisingly appetising bunch.
***
Iceland thin and crispy margherita
345g, £1.89
If you are after an oregano kick, try this. It's a struggle to notice the four cheeses and the dough is spongy. Nice cherry tomatoes on top saved it a little.
***
Carlos four cheese stone baked pizza, from Aldi
330g, 99p
This has a rustic-looking crust but it's deceptive. The real tomato topping is marred by the slog to chew the dough.
**
Asda four cheese thin crust
490g, £3.08
A pulpy texture, a raw taste, with bouncy cheese. Avoid at all costs.
no stars
Cheese and onion quiche
Tesco Finest
400g, £2.49
'It looks horrible,' says Paul. But, after a bite, 'It tastes like what I'd make at home.' The crispy crust is well filled, you can really taste the cheese and the onions have been properly fried to sweetness.
****
Budgens cheese, onion and chive
340g, £1.89
This actually has some cheese flavour and the egg custard is well made, but it's full of too many overpowering chives.
***
Sainsbury's
390g, £1.64
Have they forgotten the cheese in this one? They've boiled the onions rather than fried them and the custard is closer to scrambled eggs than quiche filling. The crust on the outside isn't bad though.
**
Waitrose
400g, £1.99
Very neat and tidy looking, but that's where the praise ends. The onions taste like they have been put in raw so there is a definite bitter taste.
**
Marks & Spencer
400g, £1.99
What a sorry, flavourless effort. Tastes of almost nothing.
no stars
Meat-free sausages
Cauldron Lincolnshire veggie sausages
250g, £1.65, available from most supermarkets
The seasoning isn't offensive and with a good onion sauce they might actually pass for reasonable food.
***
Sainsbury's Glamorgan leek and cheese sausages
300g, £1.59
The leeks are quite strong, but there is cheese and vegetables and they are shaped like sausages. Not bad.
**
Waitrose vegetarian Cumberland sausages
250g, £1.65
Way too much sage and the pepper is overwhelming. You'd have to be desperately hungry to eat these.
*
Linda McCartney's sundried tomato and herb sausages
280g, approx £1.69, widely available
They look horrible, like a dog chew. There is an interesting texture, a bitter taste, and a vaguely meat-like flavour.
no stars
Quorn sausages
Widely available, approx £1.69
This one is meaty looking, but it smells like canned dog food and tastes like Spam.
no stars
Meat-free burgers
Marks & Spencer vegetable burgers with soured cream and tangy tomato salsa
510g, £2.99
These are nice and crispy on the outside with a Mexican-style filling. The taste is authentic and there is a good chilli kick. Perfect with the soured cream.
****
Tesco mushroom burgers
175g, £1.19
They haven't been stingy with the mushrooms here but their flavour doesn't come out enough.
**
Cauldron carrot, peanut and onion nut burgers
175g, £1.29, stockists 01275 818448
The peanuts add a slight satay flavour. Not bad, but not delicious either.
**
Waitrose organic mushroom and oregano grills
200g, £1.79
Although organic, it tastes completely artificial. We struggled to taste the mushrooms through the pulpy texture.
no stars
Quorn burgers
200g, approx £1.49, widely available
If we could give minus marks in this test, this burger would get minus two. Another veggie product that tastes like dog food. Only give these to your worst enemy.
no stars
Mushroom soup
Marks & Spencer
600g, £1.99
Looks more like porridge, but, when it tastes as good as this, who cares. Creamy, mushroomy and moreish.
*****
New Covent Garden Food Co. wild mushroom
600g, widely available, approx, £1.95
The darkest one. You'd never know the mushrooms were wild as the wine flavour smothers them. It's not bad though.
***
Waitrose fresh woodland mushroom soup
600g, £1.99
A good brown colour. There is a generous amount of chopped mushrooms in here but it lacks oomph. Needs more salt and a bit of body.
**
Tesco Finest wild mushroom and madeira
600g, £1.99
Good colour but the taste is floury and glutinous and is begging for more seasoning.
**
Sainsbury's
390g, £1.64
Horrible. Bland, congealed, floury gloop, with mushroom essence. Have they used an Oxo cube?
no stars
Chilled pesto
Savoria basil pesto
170g, £5.95, stockists 0870 242 1823, www.savoria.co.uk
This is hard to beat - a good thick texture and lovely chunky pine nuts. It's loaded with flavour and generous with ingredients.
*****
Sainsbury's
120g, £1.99
This is a healthy bright green colour and, though there is a touch too much Parmesan, it is certainly the most natural tasting of those tested.
****
Tideford organic foods, Hey Pesto!
150g, £3.45
Strange flavour to the oil, and not entirely fresh tasting, but edible.
**
Pasteria Italiana from Aldi
150g, 79p
Dark, slimy and artificial tasting. There is also an unpleasant back kick.
*
Waitrose
170g, £2.19
The cheese has a melted look and, once tasted, it's more like a salsa verdi. They have added vinegar to it so the flavour is tart, and completely wrong.
*
· To order Mediterranean Cook by Paul Gayler (Jacqui Small, £18.99) for £16.99 plus p&p call The Observer Book Service on 0870 836 0885
