This was posted 7 months 14 days ago, and might be an out-dated deal.

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Jamie Oliver Green Pesto 190g $4.50 (Was $6.80) @ Woolworths

60

Pesto by Jamie Oliver

Authentic Italian Ingredients.
Produced in Italy

Save $2 plus.

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Woolworths
Woolworths

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  • +18

    A 2 month old article from The Guardian Australia about the pesto from supermarkets:

    https://www.theguardian.com/food/2024/feb/28/australian-supe…

    Jamie Oliver Green Pesto 190g, $6.80 ($3.58 per 100g), available from Woolworths

    Score: 2/10

    Jamie Oliver knows pesto. The chef, author and presenter with a passion for all things Italian has displayed his mortar and pestle-pounding skills in a number of his books and TV shows. It’s therefore surprising and disappointing that what appears in a jar of pesto – the most expensive, per 100g, of all the tested products – with his name and face on the label is dry, grassy and sandy. Acidity drowns out whatever freshness the basil might have brought, and the strange texture – a far cry from the “silky smooth finish” promised above the chef’s signature on the label – leaves bits of grit and rough strips of vegetable matter stuck between my teeth. Jamie, I love you, but I do not love this.

    It seems to be a Woolworths only product that’s overpriced as most of the products from the duopoly so they can juggle with fake promotions.

    • +1

      I quite like the Cucina Matese one from Coles - it's not in that article, but it's got the highest basil content of all the ones I've seen on the shelf, and the lowest sodium.

      It means it doesn't last quite as long once opened (really needs to be finished up within a few days) but it's cheaper than most other options.

      I'm surprised the Barilla one scored so high - Barilla smash massive amounts of salt into theirs, which probably contributes to why it tastes nice in tests, but makes it a lot harder to balance in things like pasta.

      • What's the best way to prepare this? Recipes I've seen have it mixed with cream and tossed through the pasta - is this how you make yours?

        • +1

          tbh I just cook fresh pasta in salty water, drain, pour back into the empty saucepan and stir through a few tablespoons of pesto. You can add cream as well if you want it a bit richer, and depending what I've got I add other stuff - can do some crispy bacon or lardons, add some baby spinach (the heat from the pasta will wilt it nicely), some cherry tomatoes, quickly sear some prawns in a wok and add those, poach some chicken and shred then stir that through…

          Quite a few options, but it's basically a "can't be bothered" dinner option for us when I don't feel like doing anything that requires too much thought, so I usually keep it pretty simple with just bacon or chicken (if anyone picked up one of those sous vide immersion heaters in a deal, sous vide chicken pesto pasta works real well).

          Might need to add some parmesan or pecorino since the Cucina Matese one doesn't have much in there (probably part of the reason it's cheaper and has lower sodium).

          Fresh pesto is better as others have said, but I struggle to get basil growing year round where I am, so this stuff is good for the winter months.

      • +1

        Pesto really should be used within a few days irrespective.

        • +1

          or frozen.

  • +4

    This is as bed as it can get when it comes to bottled pestos…..Make your own, I am lazy as ferk but pesto is easy:)

    • Pesto is easy.
      Great pesto is an art on its own.

    • I’m probably going to get caned but I find using my Bamix makes Pesto I like without all the pounding.

  • +1

    Farmer = 5 cents profit from this.
    Woolies = $1
    Jammie Oliver = $5 for his smile.

    • +1

      mastercard = priceless

  • +10

    Haiyaa!

  • +1

    It’s barely green in the promo picture, let alone irl

    • +2

      Not necessarily a measure of quality. Could be to do with high Parmigiano content. However, clearly not the case here - you're right

      • Having a Cert IV in Commercial Cookery comes in handy sometimes

    • -1

      It's referring to the type of pesto (green being the basil content), red being pesto made from tomatoes.

      Jarred pesto also contains a lot of oil, which tinges it slightly.

  • +2

    For fried rice too?

    • No, you need chilli jam for that one.

  • +1

    You always have to cut Jamie Oliver products in half to get the real value.

  • When ever cashews are on sale I make basil pesto in bulk and freeze in use in toastys and pasta and dips mainly the jar stuff has not come close to making it your self but I haven't done the price comparison yet. So far the jar stuff just hasn't been nice for the cheaper ones. I used sunflower seeds also sometimes or rocket instead of basil.

    • So you're making a pesto but not the pesto. Ooi, how much pounding is required to get the raw cashews into a paste? Do you soak them first?

  • +1

    The aldi version of this is two bucks I think and tastes exactly the same

    • But it's way cheaper and the price doesn't fluctuates every other week, nor marked as on 'sale' so people don't see any fake "saving" in buying another cheaper pesto also made in Italy. Imagine that the "saving" from buying the Jamie Oliver pesto from Woolies is bigger than an actual pesto from Aldi. You can't put a price of the feeling of getting a fake saving, can you?

      /s

  • +3

    Any chilli jam on sale too?

  • This is what real pesto looks like:

    https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegetables-recipes/pesto…

    And it is easy peasy! The stuff in the jar is nothing like the pesto Jamie actually makes himself.
    I don't know how he can put his name to such a thing. Does he really need the money that badly?

    You can substitute cashews for pine nuts to save money. All the commercial pestos do, or worse.

    • He also puts his name on ten dollar pans that they sell for 50, not much of a surprise

  • +2

    I did buy this once when it was on deep discount, a few jars actually, thinking 'Jamie Oliver - how bad can it be?'.

    It was very poor. Flavours were confused but it also had stringy/hard bits in it, as if they were using the hardened stalks of whatever vegetable they were pesto-ising. Highly recommend avoiding.

  • +1

    This and his other pesto (the chilli and garlic one) are terrible. Good pesto is a thing of beauty. This is really tasteless and dull. Once again Jamie Oliver has added his name to something for the $$$$.

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