Tomato, Carrot & Apricot Pasta Sauce for Kids

This is a type of "hidden" sauce, hiding a carrot and some dried apricots in a classic tomato & onion pasta sauce. You can't taste the dried apricots but they sweeten the sauce (and far better to use these than white sugar like I used to...) plus they are high in iron. To boost the protein content of the meal, we used a penne pasta made entirely from organic red lentils, produced by Tolerant Foods and sold at SpiceBox Organics in HK. This pasta  also suitable for those following a gluten-free or vegan diet.

What you need:

2 cups of red lentil penne

1 onion

450g tin of  chopped tomatos or around 6 medium sized fresh ones

1 clove of garlic, finely chopped

25ml olive oil

1 carrot, grated

4 dried apricots, roughly chopped

1 cup of stock (chicken/veg or just hot water will do)

Salt & pepper

100g Parmesan cheese, finely grated

1 chilli/pinch of cayenne (optional for adults)

Method:

Finely chop your onion and garlic. 

Heat up the oil and once hot, add the onion and garlic and soften them on a medium heat for around 5 minutes.

Add your grated carrot, tinned tomatos, chopped apricots and bring to the boil with a cup of water or stock, then allow to simmer for 15-20 minutes.

During this time, put your pasta onto cook. This one takes 8-10 minutes, so allow your sauce to simmer for around 10 minutes first.

When the pasta is nearly ready, blend your pasta sauce to "hide" the various ingredients fully then pour onto the hot pasta and add grated cheese on top if desired.

At this point you could add a finely chopped, deseeded chilli to the adult portion to liven it up or a pinch of cayenne, but this is not compulsary.

Serves 3-4 children.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE KIDS' DISHES