Lunch · Dinner · Italian

Hidden veg pasta sauce

Name: Hidden veg pasta sauce
Total time: 60 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 1 Brown onion; 2 Carrots; 1 Courgette; 2 Peppers, red; 2 cloves Garlic; 2 tbsp Olive oil; 2 tbsp Tomato purée; 1 tsp Dried oregano; 2 tins Chopped tomatoes; 1 cube Vegetable stock cube, in 200ml water; 400g Penne; 60g Mature cheddar, grated, to serve

Carrot, courgette and pepper blitzed into a smooth tomato sauce. Fussy eaters never know.

Start to finish: 1 hr
Hands-on: 28 min
In the fridge: 4 days
Freezes: Yes

VegetarianContains gluten, dairy, celery

Ingredients

4 portions

1Brown onion
2Carrots
1Courgette
2Peppers, red
2 clovesGarlic
2 tbspOlive oil
2 tbspTomato purée
1 tspDried oregano
2 tinsChopped tomatoes
1 cubeVegetable stock cube, in 200ml water
400gPenne
60gMature cheddar, grated, to serve

Plus salt, pepper and water.

Method

1
Roughly chop the onion, carrots, courgette and peppers, and peel the garlic. Chunks are fine, since it all gets blended.
2
Heat the oil in a large pan over a medium heat and cook the onion, carrots and peppers for 10 minutes, stirring now and then, until softening. Add the courgette and garlic and cook for 5 minutes more.
15 min, mostly hands-off
3
Stir in the purée and oregano for a minute, then add the tomatoes and the stock cube crumbled into 200ml water. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes, until the veg is completely soft.
22 min, mostly hands-off
4
Blitz with a stick blender until completely smooth, with no flecks left. Season to taste.
5
Meanwhile, cook the penne in a big pan of boiling salted water for 10 to 11 minutes, or as the packet says. Drain, keeping a splash of the water.
15 min, mostly hands-off
6
Toss the penne with as much sauce as you like and the pasta water, and grate over the cheese. Cool the rest of the sauce and portion it into tubs for the fridge or freezer.

On the day

Reheat the sauce until piping hot and toss it through freshly cooked penne. Grate over the cheese at the table.

Cook’s tip

Blend it for longer than you think you need to. A single fleck of green is exactly what a suspicious child will find.