This week, Conor Popetests five brands of tagliatelle

Barilla Tagliatelle all'Uovo, €2.60 for 500g, €5.20 per kg

Highs: We had to give this bonus points for being the best-selling pasta in Italy, although the information on the box we bought was in German and French, which detracted ever so slightly from its authenticity. It is undoubtedly an excellent product with a nice, firm texture and a slightly eggy flavour. It has been made with good quality durum wheat and will deliver flawless pasta every time, unless you're particularly challenged in the kitchen. It comes in a solid box, so once opened it is a lot easier to store than the bagged varieties.

Lows: The individual strands were on the narrow side so it didn't retain sauce as well as some of its rivals, and the nests of tagliatelle were on the small side which made it easy to underestimate how much we needed per person.

Verdict: Excellent

Star rating: *****

Lidl Tagliatelle all'Uovo, €1.89 for 500g, €3.78 per kg

Highs: This is the cheapest of the brands we tried and is one of those Lidl products we are always pleased to find because, in spite of its comparatively low cost, it's not horrible. It is Italian-made, and looks and tastes as authentic as some of the pricier options. It has a short cooking time and will be ready to eat in less than four minutes. It is thin and light and, while hardly exceptional, it is hard to fault.

Lows: Hard but not impossible. The line between excessively chewy and far too soggy is very thin so you need to judge the cooking time quite precisely. Nearly a third of this tagliatelle is made up of eggs compared with around 20 per cent in the competition, which seemed excessive; and, while it was the cheapest, we expected it to be cheaper still.

Verdict: Fine and cheap

Star rating: ***

Roma Tagliatelle, €2.19 for 500g, €4.38 per kg

Highs: Back in the 1970s, when the only pasta to be found in Irish cupboards came out of a tin, Roma ploughed a lonely furrow. It deserves to be commended for its longevity even if it has been overshadowed by a host of rivals over the years. It is almost certainly the most widely available of the options we tried and is comparatively cheap, but only because, according to the manufacturer, we're getting 33 per cent "free".

Lows: We found it to be just a little on the stodgy side and many of the strands clung to each other for dear life when we removed them from the boiling water. While it is not bad value at this price, it would different story if the special offer was taken away.

Verdict: Old school

Star rating:  ***

De Cecco Tagliatelle, €3.40 for 500g, €6.80 per kg

Highs: This is Barilla's main rival and it's not hard to see why: it is a very good product. It also happens to be frequently seen on television programmes hosted by "celebrity chefs", although whether that has more to do with marketing people taking advantage of product placement opportunities than the quality of the product we have no idea. The pasta is firm and the strands are thick and substantial, giving it excellent sauce retention abilities.

Lows: We can't fault its quality but we do have problems with the price, and with the packaging, which is bulky and impossible to reseal or even close in a tidy fashion. It is also hard to see why we had to pay 80 cent more for this than its closest competitor.

Verdict: Good but dear

Star rating: ***

Garofoli Tagliatelle, €2.19 for 250g, €8.76 per kg

Highs: Although it is dried, with the lengthy shelf life that gives it, this very yellow tagliatelle tastes like a high-quality fresh pasta. It is thin and delicate and almost noodle-like in its texture. It takes just three minutes to cook but you'll want to take extreme care with the timing because once it's overcooked it quickly turns to mush. The individual strands are thin and light and very easy to eat - too easy, frankly: we found ourselves wolfing down far too much of it in a single sitting than was good for us.

Lows: While a 250g packet might be too much for two, it certainly won't be enough for four. And, although it was up there with the nicest options we tried, it was also the most expensive; in these cash-strapped times, it might be considered a luxury too far for some.

Verdict: Very good. Very pricey.

Star rating: ****