I’ve always found it a fun challenge to keep the kids guessing what they are eating. When they think that they do not like a particular ingredient, they will refuse to eat it (to be fair a lot of adults are like that too!). The girls have never really struggled with eating vegetables, but one way to load up on them is to hide them in a tomato sauce as below, it also adds considerable flavour to the dish too. You can of course make this non-vegetarian and add ingredients such as chicken, ham or prawns.
READY IN 1½ HOURS
SERVES 4
8 ripe tomatoes, halved
2 peppers (red, orange or yellow), deseeded and cut into strips
2 courgettes, sliced into rounds
1 red onion, peeled and cut into wedges
2 garlic cloves, unpeeled
2 tbsp olive oil
350ml vegetable stock
pinch of sugar
280g pasta (choose the kids’ favourite shape)
50g Cheddar cheese, grated
salt and pepper
1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/400°F/Gas mark 6.
2. Tip all the vegetables into a very large roasting tin (use 2 trays if you don’t have one big enough) and spread out evenly. Tuck the unpeeled garlic cloves in among the veg and drizzle over the olive oil. Roast for 45–60 minutes until everything is well cooked and charred at the edges.
3. Remove from the oven and squeeze the garlic cloves into the roasting tin, discarding the skins. Tip the veg and garlic into a large bowl or jug, pour in half the stock and use a hand-held blender to whizz until very smooth. Add more stock until it has the consistency of a pasta sauce. Add a pinch of sugar and season with salt and pepper.
4. You’ll only need half the sauce to make the pasta bake, so set the other half aside to cool and freeze for another day.
5. Cook the pasta according to the packet instructions, drain well and return to the pan. Pour two-thirds of the retained sauce over and mix in, making sure all the pasta is well covered. Tip the pasta into a baking dish, pour the rest of the sauce over the top and scatter with cheese. Return to the oven and bake for 20 minutes until the cheese is browned and bubbling.
VIRGIN TIP
Use the other half of the sauce for pasta, pasta bakes or as a base for soup. You can also use any veg you think you can get away with – sweet potato, squash and aubergine work well but for my kids it needs to stay tomato-coloured, otherwise they get very suspicious.