Baby Pasta
This baby pasta recipe is loaded with vegetables but so easy to make, little ones love it, the perfect idea for baby-led weaning.
Servings: 8
Calories: 226kcal
Ingredients
- 120 g carrot 1 medium, yields 1 cup grated
- 120g g pumpkin 120g
- 3 Tablespoons olive oil 45ml
- 400 g Tinned tomatoes no added salt
- 20 g spinach leaves 1 large handful
- 1 teaspoon dried mixed herbs
- 2 Tablespoons cream 30 ml (optional)
- 300g Dry pasta
Instructions
- Cook your choice of pasta, use the packet instructions as a guideline. For babies I suggest cooking the pasta slightly longer (2-3 minutes longer )than recommended so it is very soft to the bite and not al dente.
- Grate the pumpkin and the carrot, you should have around a cup of each.
- In a frypan heat the oil over a medium/high heat, sauté the grated pumpkin and carrot until soft and a little golden. This should take around 5 minutes.
- Add the tinned tomatoes, herbs and spinach leaves to the pan, Simmer until the sauce is thick and the spinach leaves cooked, this should take around 5 minutes. Cool in the pan before blending (it can be very dangerous to blend piping hot liquids in a blender.)
- Add the optional cream if desired and purée the sauce, then stir it through the cooked pasta.
Video
Notes
Tips
- As your baby grows older you can stop blending the pasta sauce, although in saying that, my school kids still love this pasta from when they were little.
- If you don't feel like grating the veggies you can just chop them, the cooking time will be a little longer.
- I use quite a bit of olive oil in this recipe, this keeps the calorie content of the pasta sauce high, and also helps the sauce thick
- Don't salt the pasta water or the sauce if you are making this for a young baby, young babies should not have too much salt.
- This pasta freezes and reheats well, freeze in an airtight container, I like to divide it into meal-sized portions. Reheat to piping hot in the microwave.
Substitutions
- Cream: The cream is optional and can be left out
- Spinach: Frozen spinach can be used, or the spinach can be substituted for another green leafy vegetable such as kale, or silverbeet. Grated zucchini also works well in this recipe.
- Pumpkin: The pumpkin can be substituted for squash or butternut squash, sweet potato or kumara also works well.
- Italian herbs: any dried or fresh herbs that you like will be fine, basil, mixed herbs, oregano all work well.
- Pasta: You can use any pasta that you like, a glute free pasta, wholemeal pasta, or high protein pasta will all work well. I like to use spiral or penne shape as they tend to be nice and easy for kids to pick up.
Nutrition
Serving: 1g | Calories: 226kcal | Carbohydrates: 34g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 5mg | Sodium: 26mg | Potassium: 349mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 4184IU | Vitamin C: 8mg | Calcium: 42mg | Iron: 1mg