Tomato, Carrot and Kale Spaghetti

So this recipe was created by my friend Meg for her little boy Calvin, and I asked her if I could feature it on LTY.  I made this recipe last month and I think that it is going to be my new go-to spaghetti sauce.  I doubled the recipe and froze the sauce and its so nice to have on hand in a pinch.  Please ignore Little Frances’ reaction – she may be the only child in history to not like marinara sauce! This recipe is delish.
Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 of a large onion chopped, about 1/2 cup
• 2 cloves of garlic, or a teaspoon of jarred garlic
• a handful of baby carrots chopped, about 1/2-2/3 cup
• 2 16 ounces cans of whole tomatoes, no salt added.
• 1/2 teaspoon basil
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 shakes of red pepper flakes or 1/8 teaspoon – omitted
• 2 handfuls of chopped kale, approximately 1 cup
• Spaghetti or other type of pasta – we used spinach spaghetti to add just a little extra green to our meal!

Steps:

1. Heat oil in a saucepan.
2. Add onion, garlic and carrots and cook for 5-7 minutes.  Stir occassionally.
3. Start water boiling for pasta.
4. Drain juice off the tomatoes and add the tomatoes to the pan.
5. Add basil, oregano, salt, red pepper flakes if using, and kale.
6. When water boils, begin cooking pasta.
7. Bring sauce to a boil, crushing the tomatoes.
8. Reduce to simmer and cover and cook on low.  A minute or so before the pasta is done, blend the sauce using an immersion blender, or place it in a blender or food processor
9. Serve the sauce over the pasta and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

Misc: Don’t you think Little Frances’ spaghetti looks a little bit like a heart? Serve it with salad or a side of steamed broccoli and you have a nice family meal.
Timing: The ingredients can technically be introduced at 1 year, although with noodles I would suggest waiting until 18 months or you feel like your little one can handle chewing the noodles.
Difficulty: 3 out of 5. It was pretty easy, but it did have a lot of steps and you can’t just throw everything in at once and let it cook.
Epicutie Rating (see left side of page for rating descriptions):
Confused. So Little Frances does not like spaghetti!  Until fairly recently she did not even like noodles, although now she loves them.  Usually even if she does not love something, she will eat it if I give it to her by hand and/or add a little cheese, but this she was not willing to eat this after a bit or two.  We are going to keep working on spaghetti sauce until she likes it!

Little Joy and Little Asher:  YUMMY IN THE TUMMY

Although Little Elizabeth is not yet old enough for solids, it seems she wanted a little taste of what we were eating and she reached down and helped herself to some of my salad!   More on her first foods in the next few weeks.