I don’t think I have ever met a kid, that didn’t like spaghetti with meat sauce. It’s an extremely popular kid’s dish here in Germany and you will seldomly find a kid’s menu at a restaurant that doesn’t have spaghetti bolognese on it. Arik is definitely not an exception. He loves this stuff and gets really excited when he sees that we are having pasta with meat sauce…of course, his serving has to come with an extra portion of parmesan cheese. 🙂
That’s why I decided last week, that no kid’s recipe blog is complete, without a recipe for spaghetti bolognese. So, I’m going to share with you our favorite version, which is stuffed with lots of veggies, of course. 🙂 Since Arik likes eating most vegetables, I leave the sauce chunky. If you’ve got a picky eater, just puree/blend the vegetables and tomatoes together into a fine sauce and they’ll never know. 😉 As far as, which vegetables you decide to use, it’s completely up to you and what you have in your fridge. I would however, always use an apple because this gives the sauce some sweetness, which the kids will enjoy.
Alright, now this kid’s recipe blog has a recipe for pasta with meat sauce too…phew, made it just in the nick of time. 😉
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 1 small leek, thinly sliced
- 1 small stalk of celery, finely diced
- 1 carrot, peeled and grated
- ½ red bell pepper, finely diced
- ½ apple, cored, peeled and grated
- 1 clove of garlic, pressed
- 1 14oz/400g can chopped tomatoes
- 1 lb./500g ground beef
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 cup/250ml beef or vegetable stock
- ½ teaspoon oregano, dried
- 1 handful fresh basil leaves, chopped finely
- 1-2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
- salt and pepper
- Melt the butter in a large pan and add the onion. Saute until translucent and add the vegetables, apple and garlic. Saute for another 10 minutes or until soft.
- Meanwhile, brown the ground beef in a separate pan breaking it up with a wooden spoon.
- If you want the veggies completely hidden then transfer them to a blender, add tomatoes, and blend until smooth. If your child likes a really fine texture then you can also add the beef and blend as well.
- If not blending, add the beef to vegetables and tomatoes and stir in tomato paste, stock and oregano.
- Bring to a boil, turn down heat and simmer for 40-45 minutes until sauce is thickened.
- Add fresh basil and season to taste with balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper.
- Serve over spaghetti and top with parmesan cheese.
Recipe adapted from Annabel Karmel on Baby Centre
