A recipe that was borne from a lack of
ingredients; especially fresh herbs; there’s no point in my planting some at
this time of year in my new garden.
Ok, courgettes (zucchini) aren’t seasonal
at this time of year but I do love them as a hidden vegetable and there’s no
reason why you can’t substitute for something else, I’d imagine blanched mashed
broccoli might work.
I also love growing courgettes yet I’m
always slightly disappointed with the results when I cook with them, especially
where they’re the star. This, along with the courgette chips recipe will be definitely something I make again when I
have my pots and pots of golden yellow courgettes in the late summer.
The other great thing about this recipe is
I always think I love pesto but I have to be honest that when I have it, I
never like it as much as I thought I did.
Also I once tried my son with some pasta and pesto and, let’s just say
that even with his fondness for strong flavours, it was a fail. Well this is using pesto as a shortcut to
some herbal flavour without having the fresh herbs and a gentle introduction
for us both.
A word of caution; depending on where you
live, it would seem different health care professionals advise different things
on nuts in babies diets. Where I live,
my health visitor advised they’re fine from 6 months, as there are no nut
allergies in our family (plenty of nutters though), despite the fact my son has
eczema. I know opinion varies though so
do check. The reason I raise this is
because although pesto does not contain nuts (as pine nuts aren’t a nut in the
allergenic sense), many commercial pestos replace all or part of the pine nuts
with cashew nuts.
Likewise many commercial pestos use cheeses
which are not vegetarian so if you are strict in not wanting to eat animal
rennet, read the labels well or make your own.
Courgette and Pesto Pasta – serves one
adult and one child. Suitable for babies
from the soft lump stage onwards
Ingredients
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
Spray oil or olive oil
½ large courgette or 1 small courgette
(zucchini)
40g Extra mature cheddar
1 tsp Pesto
2 dsp Full fat cream cheese
Pasta, to taste. I used approx. 90g for the two of us (I’m
always surprised by packets recommending 100g per person but use more if you’re
hungry!)
Method
Put the pasta in boiling water and cook
until done to your liking.
As the pasta is cooking, saute the garlic
in the oil or spray. In the meantime,
grate the courgette and add to the pan with the garlic on a low heat. Stir until softened and so it has lost some
of the water. In the meantime, grate the
cheddar. Once the courgette is softened,
add the cheddar, pesto, soft cheese and a little bit of cooking water from the
pasta. Mix into a sauce adding more
water if needed.
Mix in the pasta and leave to cool until at
the right temperature for your child (I find leaving the adult portion covered
keeps it warm enough for me.)
Serve!
My son has been a little unsettled since
our move. New house, new nursery. It’s all change. For one of the first times in his life he got
really fussy with food. He ate all of
this! Definitely a result!
If you like this, why not try my creamy salmon pasta recipe?
If you like this, why not try my creamy salmon pasta recipe?
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