This healthy homemade pasta sauce with hidden veg makes an absolutely brilliant base for a number of easy and quick mid-week dishes when you want your children to have a decent meal for dinner but don’t have the energy or inclination to cook.

It freezes well in individual portions and defrosts really quickly so that it can be heated up at the same time as some pasta and then sprinkled with cheese, or used as a base for Spaghetti Bolognese, or even thickened up a bit and used as a healthy tomato base for homemade pizzas.

There’s a decent amount of prep involved with all of the veg that needs chopping, but it’s all very straightforward, and this recipe makes a good number of portions so that you can always have some ready to grab out of the freezer and make a quick, healthy and tasty meal! The portions defrost really easily if you portion them out into individual freezer bags and lie them all flat on top of each other, and that way they don’t take up too much freezer space either.

Obviously, adults can eat it too — we usually add some dried chillies to ours and maybe stir through a spoonful of Harissa. The types and amounts of veg can be varied depending on what you’ve got in and what needs using up, which makes it even better.

Healthy Homemade Pasta Sauce With Hidden Veg

This healthy homemade pasta sauce with loads of hidden veg makes an absolutely brilliant base for a number of easy and quick mid-week dishes – from a simple pasta sauce, to spaghetti bolognese or even a tasty homemade pizza base!

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Prep Time 15

Cook Time 1

Total Time 1 15

Course Main Dish

Servings 12

Ingredients

2 Carrots
2 Red Peppers or 1 red and 1 orange/yellow
2 Courgettes
2 Onions – red or white
1 Aubergine
1 Butternut Squash
6 Garlic Cloves
4 sprigs Fresh Thyme
2 tbsp Dried Mixed Herbs
4 tins Tomatoes – chopped or plum
2 tins Water
1 tbsp Red Wine Vinegar or Balsamic Vinegar
1 tbsp White Sugar
2 tbsp Red Pesto – optional
2 tbsp Chopped Sun-dried Tomatoes – optional
1 pinch Salt and Pepper to taste
4 tbsp olive oil

Instructions

Roughly chop all of the veg other than the garlic (cut the carrots smaller than the other veg as they are harder)
Peel the garlic and smash lightly with the back of a knife and add it to the rest of the chopped veg
Drizzle with the olive oil
Sprinkle with salt and pepper and the mixed herbs
Mix well in a large roasting tray
Cook in the oven at 200°c for 20 minutes
Mix well
Cook in the oven at 200°c for a further 20 minutes
Whilst the veg is roasting, add all of the tins of tomatoes to a large saucepan or casserole dish
Fill two of the tins of tomatoes with water and empty them into the pan
Add the red wine vinegar
Add the sugar and the whole sprigs of thyme
Add the red pesto and sun-dried tomatoes if using them
Bring the pan to the boil and leave to simmer until the roasted veg is done
Add the cooked veg to the pan and simmer (uncovered) for a further 20 minutes
Remove the sprigs of thyme from the sauce
Blitz with a stick blender until smooth
Add salt and pepper to taste
Add water to your desired consistency
Add portions to freezer bags, label with the date and name of sauce and lie each one flat in the freezer. You can also keep some out for your dinner that night!

Notes

The types and amounts of veg can be varied depending on what you’ve got in and what needs using up, but I always include onions, red pepper, courgette and garlic.

If you have any cherry tomatoes that are a bit past it then they are great to add in too and make it taste even better.

Chop the carrots smaller than the rest of the veg as they are harder so take longer to cook.

The pasta sauce will keep in the fridge for 3 days, and the freezer for 4 months.

We always have portions of this in our freezer and my daughter loves it — and I love that she’s getting loads of veg in her dinner, particularly as it’s a quick and easy dinner to make for her!

Let me know if you try it!

Healthy Homemade Pasta Sauce for Kids (With Loads of Hidden Veg) | A Recipe