Depending on the age of the children and what they're accustomed to eating, I'd probably cut up some veggies and sauté them along with some onion and fresh garlic, adding the cheese to the veg and then tossing the pasta back in to make it a bit more interesting and healthy. (She was a bit offended when I commented that it was boring... but in my defense, she'd not told my it was for the baby )
For my nephew (2yr old about) my mother-in-law adds some Bel Paese cheese to hot (freshly drained, cooked) pasta, letting the heat of the pasta melt the cheese.
Stir in creme fraiche (the one with herbs is tastier), prawns or cut up smoked salmon pieces & cooked peas to warm cooked pasta. Takes 10 minutes to make & my 2 1/2 year old loves it. Great as he won't go near cheese so it ups his dairy intake too.
I don't know if the wird "Fresh" can be incorporated but though not healthy but what kids actually prefer and perhaps the way to introduce pasta to a child's diet:
Boil the pasta as usual and drain; BUT instead of a proper pasta sauce; mix tomato ketchup in and then grated ordinary cheeses (like cheddar) on the top.
Take a pack of vine cherry tomatoes, cut in half, fry (face down at first) in olive oil and balsamic vinegar (ratio of approx 5-1) until starting to go soft. Add herbs and fresh ground pepper to taste.
Serve with fresh pasta (ideally) and grate fresh parmesan on top.
Simple, quick, yet delicious.
En guete.
ketchup
They'll like my pasta sauce when they realise that's all there is.
Me ma used to try and cook up all kind of sauces for the pasta when I was a wee lad, but at the end of the day one thing always won out:
I picked some fresh Bärlauch yesterday and made this dish with it. Turned out fantastic! You must give it a go. Chop up the leaves and throw them in as you would the garlic.
Alternatively, do a pesto with Bärlauch.
Thanks so much to you all for your ideas, I certainly will be busy in the kitchen,
I only know the concentrated tom puree, do you mean a tin of toms and pureeing via a blender ? if not can you tell me what you mean please
thanks
I like to hide some veggies in pasta sauce for my children. I soften a chopped onion, add half a peeled courgette a large chopped carrot and some mushrooms and cook for 4 mins. Then add 400g of passata a teaspoon of balsamic vinegar and a teaspoon of raw cane sugar and cook for 8 mins then add 400ml of vegetable stock and keep cooking for another 2 mins and then zap in a blender. My children love it and I use it on pizza I make for them too.
A lot of Italian cooking uses a concentrated tomato puree that is sieved - called passata ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomato_pur%C3%A9e ) - you can buy in packs from Migros (and probably COOP).
You can prepare your own, but you need a good blender and then to sieve the sauce to get the "real" effect.
I make a similar sort-of-carbonara but to make it a wee bit healthier I use the lowest fat Philadelphia cream cheese instead of cream. My kids love it.
The Sauce alle cinque Pi recipe:
4dl Cream or Half cream in a saucepan. Half a bunch of fresh Parsely. Then add 3 Tab Parmesan, 3 Tab Tomatenpuree, Pepper, little Salt or Aromat and 1 pinch of Nutmeg. Stir well and bring slowly to boil.
Its quick and easy and if you dont want to use so much cream, subsitute milk, or I sometimes use cream + water and thicken with cornstarch.
Enjoy!
Don't know how gauche it is to quote oneself
But I did this recipe last night. Added fresh rosemary, finely chopped onion, garlic and a bit of passata (the cherry tomatoes weren't ripe enough, so sauce needed thickening).
Served on warmed plates of 5 pasta pieces with freshly grated parmesan.
The pasta was fresh homemade stuff from a market stall bought with the parmesan on the way home. Not seen it before, but round ravioli-type pasta containing a single slice of aubergine and cheese.
Scored lots of points with the Mrs.
Quite similar to economisto's but it makes it easy to feed children (and husbands ) who don't eat vegetables.
Sauté 1 small onion, garlic to taste and an anchovie in good olive oil until anchovie breaks up. Add fresh oregano to taste.
Throw in mushrooms, zucchini, eggplant even squash and sauté a few mins.
Add a tablespoon or so of tomato paste, a tin of tomatoes and a tsp of sugar to cut the acid. Add 2 cups of beef stock; salt and pepper to taste.
Bring to boil and cook until veg is soft, pulse in blender or use a potato masher if you want more of a chunky bolognaise sauce.
Throw in torn fresh basil and serve with fresh parmesan.
My husband hated the concept but now repeatedly requests it.
An additional recipe that's not quite so good on the waistline but is really quick and great on a Friday night with a good glass of wine and a book... If you get some kid free time
Chop up Swiss brown mushrooms and sauté in butter until brown. Thow in a handful of chopped prosciutto and cook quickly (you don't want it crunchy). Pour cream over the lot and bring to a simmer. Cook just a couple of mins until the cream thickens a little and pour over pasta.
Absolutely delicious and well worth the trip to the gym (or the park with the kids) the next day
Just take some tagliatelle, take a fresh Alba Truffle, shave it a bit of it and sprinkle over the buttered tagliatelle. Only use high quality traditional farm made butter.