This sauce is so simple, yet so fresh and tasty! Your kids are going to love it and you too. Leave sauce as it is after cooking or blitz for a smoother texture (this is what I do). Your child doesn’t like sauces? See below for some top serving tips!

INGREDIENTS:
6-8 tomatoes (approx)
Half onion, chopped
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 tsp caster sugar
t tbsp olive oil
Handful chopped basil (optional)
Courgettes
Peas
Parmesan cheese, mozzarella or cheese of your choice

Serves 4 - Prep time: 10 mins - Cook time: 30 mins

METHOD:
1. Take approx. 6-8 tomatoes, wash and chop roughly into quarters and chop the onion.
2. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a pan and fry the chopped onion gently for about 5 minutes until it starts to soften.
3. Add the chopped tomatoes along with the 1 tbsp tomato puree and the basil and bring to the boil. Leave to simmer with lid on for 15 minutes then another 10-15 approx with the lid off for the sauce to thicken slightly.
4. Whilst the sauce is cooking, steam/cook whatever vegetables you’d like and add into the sauce when it’s cooked or keep separate. I lightly cook some courgettes and peas to add in, but any veg can be added!
5. Add parmesan cheese, mozzarella or whatever one works for the family.

Serving suggestion:
- A large dollop of long-term thinking (don’t focus on just one meal)
- A cup of cheerful conversation (no bribery, just connection)
- A pinch of salt (how you should take all food rejection!)
- Lashings of laissez-faire (the less you micro manage, the better)

How to serve this meal to your child

Beginner: ‘My child refuses any new meals’

Cook for yourself and reheat some of the sauce and serve alongside your child’s usual meal the next day to use for dunking some bread into. Or you could offer it as a small starter whilst they are waiting for their meal with any leftover pasta. The great thing about this approach is that you are not cooking specifically for your child, you are giving them leftovers from a meal that you would have cooked anyway, so straightaway there is LESS expectation and pressure. It’s about creating easy opportunities to widen your child’s food list.

Intermediate eater: ‘My child may try this new dish but I’m not sure’

Choose a day when you can eat together. Offer other components your child usually eats so there is no pressure. Serve the sauce separately to the pasta so they can add as much as they wish or none at all if they are unsure! Kids like the independence of building their own meal and being left to it. It doesn’t matter if your child doesn’t touch the new meal, it is all about your child getting used to seeing new food and taking it in and also seeing you eat it to give them confidence for future meals.

Advanced eater: ‘My child eats most things I give them and is not phased by new food’.

Serve the new meal and if they unexpectedly do refuse it, the best advice is not to panic and don’t feel bad. It’s just one meal. Say non-confrontational words such as ‘you don’t have to eat anything you don’t want to’ and see if they can try a bit in their own time. If they don’t, it is best to move onto the next mealtime and write it off and try another time!