Lidl Deluxe

Lidl’s Deluxe offering gets Italian right again and again, so it’s a great resource for lovers of la dolce vita. Check out the frozen food cabinets too; they sometimes have excellent game that’s good to stock up on.

Deluxe Linguine

£1.19 for 500g

A reader tipped me off about this bargain pasta that’s shaped the traditional way on bronze dies (perforated metal plates), giving it the classic rough finish. Traditional with seafood, and good with a simple red tomato sauce too, this is dinner-party worthy.

Deluxe Parmigiano Reggiano DGP £3.49 for 200g

Most standard supermarket Parmesan cheese is aged for 22 months, with the premium upgrade indicating an age of 30 months (as here). Lidl’s Deluxe gives you 200g for the price that other supermarkets charge for 170g, so it’s no wonder shoppers snap it up.

Deluxe Toscana Pasta Sauce £1.49 for 350g

This is an addictively good, smoky tomato sauce with little nibbly bits of pork belly. It is superb with pasta but it will also be highly suitable for baking chicken or white fish. The ingredients list is reassuringly short and sweet as well.

Deluxe English Breakfast Tea £1.15 for 125g

Bright and complex, one tea bag makes a delicate cup while two gives the full builder’s. It deserves to be brewed for four minutes to get the best flavour.

Deluxe Dark Chocolate Gingers £1.49 for 150g

These biscuits are crisp and gingery with a respectable – if not exactly lavish – layer of good-quality chocolate. They are a dead ringer for Border’s Dark Chocolate Gingers, which at £2 for the same size pack at Waitrose cost upwards of 50 per cent more.

BEST FOR ITALIAN