Little Sister and I don’t eat dairy, Big Sister and G do. I would love for everyone to eat the same food, but that can be challenging when Big Sister wants ice cream or a cheesy dish. Finding good dairy free foods which appeal to everyone can be challenging, but I have discovered that my beloved Ocado sell a range by Valsoia which are suitable for people who are dairy free. Their authentic Italian products include ice cream, pizza, vegan lasagne, milk and chocolate spread. You can find them on the Ciao Gusto tab on the Ocado website and I have been putting some of them to the taste test with my family.
Valsoia ice creams
Perhaps unsurprisingly for an Italian brand Valsoia have a number of different ice creams, from a tub of Cherry and Cream Soya Ice cream to Ice cream sandwiches there is no dairy in any of them. I decided to try Almond Gelato Cones and Almond Gelato Mini Sticks because they look similar to Cornetto’s and mini Magnums. Both of these are almond based ice creams (with a soya emulsifier), but most of the ice creams in the range are soybean based.
You might be thinking that as we head into Autumn it’s not the time of year for ice cream, but I disagree. Ok you might not be eating them in the garden to keep cool, but they are just as delicious as a treat in the house. With the cooler temperatures you actually have time to enjoy the ice cream before they melt and you don’t get pestered by wasps. Definitely a better way to enjoy them.
The chocolate in both the gelato cones and the mini sticks is similar to milk chocolate and less bitter than most dairy free chocolate, which appeals to my eldest who doesn’t like dark chocolate. The ice-cream in the mini sticks has a noticeable almond taste, but I found this less obvious in the ice-cream cones. The waffle on the gelato cones is crunchy and delicious.
Valsoia Pizza
The frozen pizza is covered in grilled vegetables and small pieces of a dairy free “cheese”. When cooked the pizza has a great crisp base. The dairy free cheese is slightly spongey rather than gooey like actual melted cheese, but it has a more pleasant taste than many dairy free cheeses I’ve tried. The vegetables on my pizza included: broccoli, spinach, asparagus, courgette and yellow pepper. It had a generous amount of topping compared to the average pizza, but less cheese (well technically no cheese, but you know what I mean).
Chocolate spread
I’ll admit I bought the chocolate spread less to share with my children and more as a treat for me. The spread is made from hazelnuts, cocoa, soya, sugar and a few other ingredients. It is fairly runny and (like the chocolate in the ice creams) it has a sweet milk chocolate taste, but it's not too sweet. So far I have only eaten it off a spoon and tried dipping strawberries in it making a decadent and delicious snack. I think it would work really well as the filling in a chocolate cake or drizzled over ice cream too.
About Valsoia
Valsoia was founded in Bologna, Italy in 1990 by Lorenzo Sassoli de Bianchi. It is part of the Ciao Gusto tab on Ocado where you can find over 30 of Italy’s most popular brands for an authentic taste of Italian food and drink. Of course you can also find them alongside other products in Ocado search results . To find out more about Valsoia and Ciao Gusto visit Ocado or Ciao Gusto on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
***Disclosure: This post is in collaboration with Ciao Gusto***
Sounds a great selection of products, I find I react to “white” pasta but am okay with granary products, different grains etc I guess.
ReplyDeleteWe have a Waitrose near us so I’ll look out for these x
Never heard of valsoia before, but some of the pictures looks amazing!
ReplyDeleteThank you. I spent a lot of time one evening eating strawberries, chocolate spread and ice creams while trying to get good photos
DeleteI bet it's lovely to find yummy treats that the whole family can enjoy! Those ice creams sound lovely, and I totally agree they're perfect treats all year round haha xx
ReplyDeleteThese look great it's a shame I'm allergic to soya as it's used in so many 'alternative' foods.
ReplyDeletethis is great for us. we're trying to figure out an allergy
ReplyDeleteThere are so many allergy these days, great you have found something you love so you have variety.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.onesliceoflemon.com/
The pictures look amazing and good looks delicious the pizza especially. It's great when you find food the whole family can enjoy xx
ReplyDelete