Pumpkin and Passata Pasta Sauce

Pumpkin and Passata Pasta Sauce.

Our kids love pasta.  In fact I worked in childcare for 14 years before having the twins and I don’t think I have ever met a kid that doesn’t like it.  One of my favourite things about pasta sauce is that I can hide lots of goodies in it and the twins don’t even notice.  I’ve named this sauce; Pumpkin and Passata Pasta Sauce, but only because adding almond meal, avocado, fennel, parsley and basil was too long!

Roast the Pumpkin.

I have found that roasting the pumpkin instead of boiling or steaming it brings out a much sweeter flavour.  I can also add a couple of tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil to the veg and bring up the fat content of the entire dish.  Plus it’s super easy.  Once you’ve cut and peeled it, add the olive oil, chuck it in the oven and forget about it.

Wiggly Worms.

Now just because I said our kids love pasta, doesn’t mean they’re going to just come running if I tell them they’re having Pumpkin and Passata sauce with pasta for dinner.  They pretty much need convincing every night that I’m not serving them something that in Norah’s words is “Blah’, or in Cole’s, ‘Yucky’.  I have learnt that spaghetti can be ‘worms’ and they will more often than not get eaten.

Before I cook the spaghetti, I break it in half so that they’re not too long for the kids to manage, but still long enough that they can practice slurping them up.

So now we have a bowl full of ‘dirty’ worms.  Apparently in the eyes if a child that’s more appealing than spaghetti and sauce.  Typically this is how a meal time with wiggly worms will go down; Norah has to catch a wiggly worm, she will then suck it up, but all the sauce will be left on her lips.  I then tell her to do ‘the lizard’ and she’ll stick her tongue out and lick it up…. FOR EVERY SINGLE PIECE OF PASTA! So time consuming, but she eats it and to me that’s a win.  Meanwhile, Cole is shovelling the pasta in by the fist full.

Print

Pumpkin and Passata Pasta Sauce

Yummy pasta sauce with hidden almond meal and avocado.

Course Dinner

Keyword Avocado, Pasta, Pumpkin

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes

Servings 9 Children

Ingredients

• 1/2 butternut pumpkin
• 3 tbsps Extra Virgin Olive Oil 54.9g of fat
• 100 g almond meal 54.7g of fat
• 150 g avocado 31.8g of fat
• 700 ml passata
• 1 tsp dried parsley
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp ground fennel seeds
• 1 beef stock pot or cube
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius.  Chop, peel and remove the seeds of the pumpkin.  Line a baking tray with baking paper and spread the cubes of pumpkin across the tray ad drizzle with 1tbsp of the extra virgin olive oil.  Place the pumpkin in the oven to roast for 45 mins.  Turning every 15 mins or so.

   

2. Remove the pumpkin from the oven when it is soft and slightly caramelised.

   

3. Place a large saucepan on the stove top and add the cooked pumpkin.  Pour the passata over the top and add the herbs and vinegar.  Mix through and slowly start breaking down the pumpkin with your spoon.

   

4. Scoop out the avocado and add it to the pan with the remaining oil. Stir and slowly break down the avocado.

   

5. Add the almond meal and stir through.

   

6. Add the stock pot (or cube) and mix through until it's dissolved.

   

7. Once all the ingredients are incorporated, use a stick blender to puree it into a smooth consistency. 

   

8. Serve with pasta or your choice or rice noodles.

   Left overs can be frozen in small portions and defrosted as needed.

Recipe Notes

Total fat: 141.4g.

This recipe makes 9 small serves at approximately 16g of fat per serve.

IF YOU LOVED THIS RECIPE, SUBSCRIBE NOW TO RECEIVE ALL OUR NEW RECIPES WITH THE FAT CONTENT ALREADY CALCULATED FOR YOU.