Thomas the Tank Engine Pasta in tomato sauce (V)
From Cookipedia
This recipe is just a bit of fun to encourage young children to eat 'proper' pasta as opposed to the tinned varieties. The Thomas the Tank Engine Pasta shapes are organic and obtainable from some of the main supermarkets.
Ingredients
Ingredients
Printable 🖨 shopping 🛒 list & 👩🍳 method for this recipe
- 50 ml olive oil
- 2 medium carrots, scraped and finely diced
- 2 celery sticks, finely diced (include the leaves is you have them)
- 2 medium red onions, peeled and coarsely diced
- Garlic, as much as you like, peeled and finely diced
- 150ml red wine or vegetable stock
- 1 tbsp tomato purée
- 40 g Olive oil
- 2-3 red peppers, roasted, peeled and roughly chopped
- 2 x 400 g tins chopped tomatoes
- seasoning
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 250g Thomas the Tank Engine pasta shapes
- Parmesan cheese, freshly grated (optional)
Method
- Heat the oil in a deep sauté or frying pan on a high heat.
- When hot, but not smoking, add the carrots, celery, onions and garlic.
- Reduce the heat to medium and cook until the onions are soft.
- Stir in the wine and tomato purée and allow to cook for 5 minutes, uncovered.
- Add the oil, peppers and the tomatoes.
- Cover and simmer slowly for 1 hour.
- Add the sugar and simmer gently for a further 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, boil up two kettles-full of water and pour into a large saucepan.
- Once the water is boiling, add the pasta shapes and cook for 7-8 minutes.
- When the pasta is cooked, drain and plate immediately.
- Cover with the sauce and serve, sprinkled with grated Parmesan if desired.
Serving suggestions
Serve with Italian bread and side salad.
Variations
If you are are cooking for young children, use vegetable stock instead of wine and a mild cheese instead of the Parmesan. Adults, add some chillies or chilli powder to give the sauce a kick!
Chef's notes
For a change, I am blending the sauce until smooth - a good way of disguising vegetables for reluctant children.