A tasty weaning friendly green pasta sauce made with spinach and peas.
A couple of weeks ago I took part in a weaning event with Mothercare. There was a lot of chat that day about the importance of serving up green veg to babies as early as possible so that their taste buds become accustomed to it, rather than only sweet fruits and veggies.
Following on from that I thought I would make a very simple but delicious recipe using green veg that babies will love. I’ve made a Spinach & Pea Sauce that I’ve served with pasta but you could just as easily cook it up with some chicken or fish or even use it as a dip.
To start I steamed some fresh baby spinach and frozen pea. I love my simple metal steamer that fits into lots of different sized pots. I’ll link an example of one on Amazon here but any kind of steamer will do the job just fine.
Whilst the veggies were steaming I cooked some pasta in another saucepan.
Once cooked, I added the veggies to a blender or food processor along with some herbs and spices for flavour. I used garlic powder, dried oregano, a little bit of cumin and some fresh chives. I also added some olive oil for healthy fats and a few spoons of the pasta water to help it come together.
The pasta I used is this one from Garofalo. I bought it on Amazon but it might be available in some supermarkets too.
To serve simply mix the sauce with the pasta. Leftover can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge for 48 hours or frozen into portions and defrosted overnight in the fridge.
Substitutions & Additions
There are lots of substitutions and additions that you can make to this recipe:
1. Feel free to experiment with herbs and spices. This is a great way to introduce your baby to a variety of flavours in a very subtle way.
2. Other veggies could also be added. Broccoli would be a nice addition too.
3. If you wanted to make this sauce creamy add a couple of spoons of cream cheese when blending. You can also add some cheese to the sauce or sprinkled on top.
For more recipes along with tips and tricks for weaning you can download this free ebook from the Mothercare website.
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Spinach & Pea Pasta for Weaning
Prep Time: 2 mins- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 12 minutes
Yield: 6 1x
Category: Weaning Recipes
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Pin RecipeDescription
A tasty weaning friendly green pasta sauce made with spinach and peas.
Ingredients
- 150g frozen peas
- 100g baby spinach
- 3 sprigs chives
- 1/4 tsp garlic granules
- 1/4 tsp dried oregano
- 1/8 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2–3 tbsp pasta water
Instructions
- Cook some pasta accordingly to the package instructions. Once cooked, drain but keep a little of the pasta water.
- Steam the frozen peas and spinach over boiling water for 5 minutes then remove.
- Add the cooked peas and spinach to a blender or food processor along with the chives, garlic, oregano and cumin.
- Pour in the olive oil and add 2-3 tbsp of the reserved pasta water.
- Blitz until smooth. Add more pasta water if necessary.
- Mix in with the pasta and serve immediately.
Notes
Leftover can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge for 48 hours or frozen into portions and defrosted overnight in the fridge.
Vanessa says
Made this as a dip and my little man loved it! Will try it with pasta next time. So glad to have found a healthy weaning recipe that he likes!
★★★★★