Easy Hidden Veg Tomato Sauce

At some point all children seem to go through an I hate vegetable phase so if you are there and need a solution this easy hidden veg tomato sauce is the answer.  It tastes great, can be batched cooked and frozen and they never notice the vegetables. I use this easy hidden veg tomato sauce on pasta, with chicken and rice, as the ragu sauce for bolognese and on meatballs.

You will need:

1 tin tomato chopped

1 carton passata

1 beef stock pot 

500ml water

2 slices smoked bacon (use low salt or omit for very young children)

2 carrots

1 clove of garlic

1 red onion

2 courgettes

1 stick celery

1 red pepper (the taste of this is most noticeable so leave out for the very fussy)

Pepper and Dried Italian herbs (to taste)

Method:

  1. Peel courgette, onion and carrots and roughly chop
  2. Chop celery 
  3. Finely chop or grate garlic clove 
  4. Put 1 tbsp olive oil into a large pot which has a lid and heat on a medium heat 
  5. Add celery and garlic stir for 1 minute
  6. If using chop bacon and add to pot
  7. Add courgette, onion and carrots and stirfry for a few minutes just till onion softens slightly. Try not to add colour to vegetables
  8. Add chopped tomato, passata, stock pot and water 
  9. Add dried herbs and pepper to taste
  10. Stir, cover and leave on a low heat for 20 mins or until carrot is soft. You want flavours to mix without reducing liquid volume too much
  11. Use a hand held blender stick to blend together in the pot or transfer to a liquidiser and blend
  12. Either serve immediately or leave to cool and freeze in small portions
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