Simple Courgette Pasta Sauce

Claire Wright

Featuring:

Courgette

Effort:

Complexity:

Cost:

Serves: 4

Prep time: 5 mins

Cook time: 25 mins

Ingredients:

4 courgettes, thinly sliced

1 garlic clove, thinly sliced

Olive oil, for frying (or use whatever oil you can afford)

Salt & pepper

1 heaped tbsp creme fraiche, optional

Basil (handful fresh or 2 tsp dried), optional

Veg Portions / Serving: 2

This is simplicity itself – slice some courgettes then let them cook down slowly in a pan until they make the creamiest, most delicious sauce. This is a great dish to try for courgette skeptics, as it becomes so creamy that it loses it’s distinctive ‘courgette’ flavour and may well convince someone who is less of a fan.

Method:

Heat some oil in a large frying pan over low heat. Add the sliced courgette and about 1/2 tsp salt and cook slowly over low heat for 15-20 mins, stirring often, until the courgettes have gone slightly golden and broken down almost completely into a creamy sauce. Add the garlic and cook for another minute, then take off the heat and stir in creme fraiche and basil, if using. Serve over cooked pasta.

Engaging Kids

Kids who engage regularly with veg through veg-themed activities, such as arts and crafts, sensory experiences, growing and cooking are shown to be more likely to eat the veg they engage with. Encouraging kids to engage and play with veg is the handy first step to them developing a good relationship with veg and life-long healthy eating.

Kids in the kitchen

If your kids are older and learning how to slice veg using the “claw” technique, they can practise that really well here. Younger ones could have a go at slicing some of the courgette with a simple kid’s butter knife (ask them to do the first step of cutting it chunky, then you can do step 2 of slicing it thinly). Show your children how to stir safely over heat without touching the pan and using a wooden or silicone spoon or spatula rather than metal to avoid getting hot fingers! This is a great recipe for those who have been working for their “Kitchen Ninja” skills for a little while already.

Activities

While getting kids to interact with veggies for real and using their senses to explore them is best, encouraging hands off activities like arts & crafts, puzzles & games or at-home science experiments can be a great start, particularly for those who are fussier eaters or struggle with anything too sensory. Use these veg-themed activities as a stepping stone to interacting with the veg themselves. We have loads of crafty downloads here, puzzles here, and quirky science with veg here.

Sensory

Once you feel your child is ready to engage a little more, you can show them how to explore the veg you have on hand with their senses, coming up with playful silly descriptions of how a veg smells, feels, looks, sounds and perhaps even tastes. Find ideas, videos and some simple sensory education session ideas to get you started here.

Serving

The moments before food is offered can be a perfect opportunity for engagement that can help make it more likely a child will eat it! Giving children a sense of ownership in the meal can make a big difference to their feelings going into it and the pride they take in it. You know your child best, but if you aren’t sure where to start, we have some fun and simple ideas for easy roles you can give them in the serving process over here.

Claire Wright

Editor: After leaving Exeter University with a degree in English Literature, Claire worked in various fields ranging from youth work and charities to publishing, before starting up a food-focused website when her first child was born. After being asked to project manage the publication of Veg Power's Crowdfunder book, Claire came on board as a fully-fledged team member in 2018 to take on the role of Communications Manager, then Editor, looking after Veg Power's website, content, recipes and social media platforms.

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