My little guy does NOT do veggies. We have the "no thank you bite" rule, but it doesn't work well when it comes to veggies. We try, but he just doesn't like them. And he is one of those weird kids who doesn't like dipping sauces, so don't even try to tell me just "give him some ranch and ketchup and he'll eat anything". Cause he won't. I promise. This kid doesn't like hot dogs, and just now started liking mac and cheese. He's not a typical kid.
I can't be too upset because I HATED veggies as a kid. It wasn't until I was about 23ish that I started being more adventurous with them. The problem is that vegetables are so good for you. I don't want to wait 21 more years for Jack to start getting the benefits from eating them. So what is a momma to do? Get sneaky of course!
I was thrilled to find this recipe because it both looked delicious AND was full of veggies that a certain toddler may not be able to detect.
Tomato-Cream Sauce
Originally from The Glorious Pasta of Italy by Domenica Marchetti
Stolen from Pinch My Saltmakes about 6 cups (1.4 liters)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 yellow onion, chopped
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
3 celery ribs, chopped
two 28-0z (800 gram) cans whole or diced tomatoes, with their juice
kosher or fine sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup (180 ml) heavy/double cream
Warm the olive oil and butter in a large Dutch oven or other heavy-bottomed pot placed over medium heat. When the butter is melted and begins to sizzle, add the onion, carrots, and celery and saute.
Stir often, for about 15 minutes, or until the vegetables are softened. If necessary, reduce the heat to medium-low to prevent the vegetables from browning.
While the vegetables are cooking, pass the tomatoes through a food mill fitted with the disk with the smallest holes. Discard the solids. (Sarah's note: yeah, I didn't do that. I just dumped the tomatoes in with the veggies. Sue me).
Add the milled tomatoes to the vegetables and stir in 1 teaspoon salt and several grinds of pepper. Cover partially and cook at a gentle simmer for 45 minutes, or until the vegetables are completely tender. Remove from the heat and let the sauce cool for 10 minutes.
Puree the sauce using an immersion blender or a stand blender. (If using a stand blender, you will need to puree the sauce in two batches and then return the pureed sauce to the pan).
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| "No Jack, there are no veggies in there...see how smooth it is..." |
Add the cream, place over medium heat, and bring the sauce just to a simmer. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper, if you like.
I served the sauce over whole wheat rotini.
The moment of truth - Jack took a bite (no photo of that. Whoops). ::chewing, chewing, chewing:: "This is a good dinnwr mommy".
Gotcha suckah.
I've shared this over at Fight Back Fridays and Monday Mania.
Labels: Cooking with kids, Flexitarian, Jack, Main dishes, Poverty Cookbook
