Realfoods by Organico is pantry paradise. Founded by Charles Redfern to promote products that are organic, sustainable and ethical to the core, they supply high quality products from small businesses, family owned or co-operatives. It’s also great value for money.

The Realfoods by Organico team sent me a box of goodies to devour with my family: Choc Chip Biscuits, Speculoos (spiced Belgian biscuits), Classic Breadsticks, Spelt Penne, Riccioli Pasta, Artisan Crackers, Chickpeas, Arrabbiata Sauce with chilli and olive oil. I’d love to say that their beautifully designed yellow packaging makes my cupboards look stylish, but they were all scoffed before I had a chance to fit them in.

Thankfully, they offer free delivery for order over £30 (UK only, excludes Northern Ireland), and we have a basket full of quick meals ready to buy.

Let me address one glaring point head on: these are premium products, and therefore more expensive than the supermarket basics. Sales are often available; at the time of writing, Peeled Tomatoes and Chopped Tomatoes are 83p each (was £1.65), and the Spelt Pasta Products are £3.96 each (was £4.95). But you’re paying the right price for ethically-sourced high quality products.

*Realfoods by Organico offer a whole range of pantry classics and delicious treats*

“The best Spelt Pasta we’ve ever had”

Filling our Realfoods by Organico basket at this moment are the Spelt Fusilli, Spelt Spaghetti and Spelt Penne Pastas, made from Whole Spelt Wheat Semolina.

I’ve had an intolerance to durum wheat for the last 10 years and joyously discovered that I don’t have the same reaction to spelt. This deliciously nutty ancient grain is higher in protein than durum wheat, rich in dietary fibre, and full of micronutrients like iron, magnesium, zinc, phosphorus and B vitamins. It also keeps blood sugar more stable than refined white flour, lower FODMAP than some modern wheats, and is rich in antioxidants. In other words, it’s a really good carb.

To highlight an obvious but important point, I’m not a doctor or nutritionist and my experience of “getting on with spelt wheat” as a durum wheat intolerant person is purely my own. Seek professional advice if you’re a wheat intolerant person curious to try out spelt wheat. And please note that it is absolutely not suitable for coealics as it still contains gluten.

Dietary requirements aside, this Spelt Pasta is the best we’ve ever had. It has all of the delicious carby happiness that pasta offers with a nutty, nutritionally-rich taste. Mix it up with their vibrant Arrabbiata Sauce with chilli and olive oil and you have yourself a deliciously easy meal.

As a quick aside on the sauce, it’s got a strong chilli heat. The chilli lovers in our family pack wanted ‘more, more, more – this is the best tomato chill sauce ever’, the others needed to cool it down with cheese. It’s been added to the basket at strong demand from the chilli lovers, along with a Cherry Tomato Passatta and Puttanesca Sauce (the Yellow Tomato Passatta and Vegan Bolognese Sauce with pea protein are going on the next shop).

For £2.12 per person, you can feed four people a nourishing organic meal; hitting the perfect balance of fibre, plants and nutrients in a one-pan-meal. We found that 80% of the Spelt Penne and the whole sauce jar created four adult-sized meals.

If I’ve not quite sold Spelt Pasta to you, rest assured that their Riccioli Pasta had raving reviews from my durum wheat-eating test team. One of whom ate it with just cheese, pepper and a sprinkle of olive oil, claiming that the pasta was so lovely that it didn’t need any more.

“Party Snacks with an ethical heart”

My test team also devoured the cookies, breadsticks, speculoos and artisan crackers; dipping the savoury treats in a hummus freshly made from the chickpeas (which I also got to try).

The cookies, which come in four packs of three biscuits are a moorish concoction of dark rich chocolate, wheat and whole oats; labelled “healthy cookies” by the younger teens before scoffing them down and taking another pack “for later”. The Speculoos (spiced Belgian biscuits) were tried with a coffee, as the Belgians do. These crisp, snappy biscuits are the perfect mix of warm caramelised sweetness and gentle spices. For those feigning cluelessness to a speculoo, the most famous brand is ‘Lotus Biscoff’ – they would have been turned them into a spread if they weren’t demolished after the first coffee morning.

The breadsticks and artisan crackers were a wonderful treat (Spelt Breadsticks are in our trolly for me to try next), but the true queen of the party snacks was the hummus made from Organic Lovely Chickpeas (also in our shopping basket so we can taste them roasted next time). I’ll share the recipe below for the curious folk wanting to know how we do it, but to follow the theme of the whole experience, the chickpeas were a fantastic quality.

Hummus Recipe using Organico’s Organic Lovely Chickpeas

*Hummus perfection photographed by @loudmotion*

Ingredients

Chickpeas, drained and rinsed
3 tbsp tahini
Half a squeezed lemon juice
2 tbsp olive oil (plus extra for drizzling)
1 small crushed garlic clove
½ tsp salt
2–4 tbsp cold water

Method

Preferred: Remove the chickpea skins for a smoother taste

Drain the chickpeas and leave the chickpea water to one side
Rinse the chickpeas
Put the chickpeas in a large bowl of warm water for 10 minutes
Rub the chickpeas in your hands in the bowl for 60 seconds so that the skins float to the surface
Take the skins out and repeat until the skins off the chickpeas are gone

Easier: Skip all that, keep the skins and start from here

Put the chickpeas in a blender (Nutribullet for us) with the Tahini, Crushed Garlic, Lemon Juice, Pinch of Salt, one tbsp of Olive Oil, half a cup of the Chickpea Water and blend
Keep slowly adding extra water and a splash of olive oil until it goes creamy
And DIP (with Real Foods by Organico Party Snacks)

Fish Products in their ‘Fish4Ever’ brand on our hit list

Whilst we didn’t try them out on this occasion, I can’t end the review without shining a light on the delicious looking fish that Organico sells too under their “Fish4Ever” range. They actually offer a £30 monthly subscription service for sustainably sourced fish bundles that are “all sourced from small scale boats, using the most selective methods, and processed by fisheries that are local to the fish”.

According to their website, a month’s bundle could contain: Salmon, Azores Skipjack Tuna in Spring Water (3pk), Azores Skipjack Tuna Fillets in Organic Olive Oil (jar), Sprats in Spring water, Anchovies in Organic Olive Oil (jar), Scottish Mackerel in Spring Water, Cornish Sardines and Sardines in Organic Olive Oil and Lemon.

Or, you can simply buy tinned fish individually, like Smoked Kippers in rapeseed oil, Cornish Sardines in spring water and Anchovy Fillets in olive oil (also known as ‘Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall’s favourite anchovy').

And, just to sprinkle even more reasons why Realfoods by Organico is worthy of its Google Chrome Bookmark, their recipes are sublime.

Have a nosey and fill up your basket to £30 for easy meals and free delivery over on organicorealfoods.com.

Disclaimer: Products were gifted in exchange for an honest review.

Realfoods by Organico Review: Ethical Treats and Pantry Staples