By Aileen Cox Blundell
3.58 4 Comments Published Jan 13, 2016Updated Jun 02, 2023
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Butternut squash is sometimes over-looked as a boring, hard to peel ‘too much effort’ vegetable but it is a great one to try include in your kids diet due to it’s high nutritional content. It provides ample amounts of dietary fibre, is high in vitamins, potassium and a great source of beta-carotene. This pasta sauce tastes rich and creamy and yet there isn’t a bit of cream or butter in site. Serve over a pasta of your choice with a tiny sprinkle of parmesan. Note that parmesan has a high salt content so use sparingly for the little ones. Also omit the parmesan for vegan
My kids all love creamy pasta sauces. Give them a carbonara any day over a veggie filled tomato based sauce and it will be devoured up in no time. I tend to make it seldom though as the creamy butter sauce isn’t as good for us grownups. Where I can I opt for healthier alternatives like this recipe for butternut squash pasta sauce. It tastes like it is deliciously creamy and laden with butter and yet there isn’t a smidgen of butter or cream in sight.
Butternut squash is sometimes over-looked as a boring, hard to peel ‘too much effort’ vegetable but it is a great one to try include in your kids diet due to it’s high nutritional content. It provides ample amounts of dietary fibre, is high in vitamins, potassium and a great source of beta-carotene.
Easy ways to prepare Butternut Squash
There are a few ways of preparing butternut squash to make your life a bit easier and entice you to use it more. Firstly, wash the skin, cut length ways, remove the seeds, drizzle with olive oil and then roast at 180ºC for about 40 minutes until the flesh is soft. It then easily comes away from the skin with minimal effort. Alternatively you can use a regular vegetable peeler to remove the skin prior to cooking. Then chop into chunks and either steam, sauté or drizzle with a little olive or coconut oil and roast until soft.
Butternut squash freezes really well when cooked and can be stored in freezer bags for future recipe. Great to have on hand for busy parents who want to cook something quick!
Once you have the cooked squash this recipe is a doddle to prepare. I slow cook the onions until they have become naturally sweet and sticky and then add garlic and a little home made stock that I usually have in the freezer. Then everything is blended and it magically turns into a delicious creamy sauce that will fool any child (or adult for that matter).
Serve over a pasta of your choice with a tiny sprinkle of parmesan. Note that parmesan has a high salt content so use sparingly for the little ones. Also omit the parmesan for vegan
3.58 from 7 votes
Prep: 40 minutes minutes
Cook: 20 minutes minutes
Total: 1 hour hour
Servings: 12 Baby Dinners
(Hover over # to adjust)
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Butternut Squash Creamy Pasta Sauce – Vegan Option Baby Led Feeding. Homemade Baby Food Recipes. Perfect for little hands. Delicious baby weaning recipe.
Ingredients
- 1 Small Butternut Squash
- 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
- 1 Medium Onion
- 2 Cloves Garlic
- Pinch Black Pepper
- 125 ml Vegetable Stock/Water
- 1 Tablespoon Natural Yogurt or for vegan use 1 tablespoon of almond milk
Method
Preheat oven to 180ºC
Peel the butternut squash, cut in half to deseed and then cut into chunks. Drizzle with the olive oil and roast for about 40 minutes (or until it is soft).
Meanwhile finely chop the onion. Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a frying pan and gently fry the onion until it starts to turn sweet and sticky. This takes about 10 minutes but it’s so worth it.
Add the garlic to the pan and cook for a further 3 or so minutes stirring well to make sure it doesn’t burn.
Add in the butternut squash and all the remaining ingredients to the pan and reduce heat to a simmer for 10 minutes.
While the sauce is cooking bring a pot of water to the boil and cook your pasta as per the package instructions.
When the pasta is cooked, drain and leave to the side.
Add all of the sauce ingredients to your blender and blend until smooth and creamy then pour over your pasta stirring well to coat each and every piece.
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Recipe Notes & Tips
This sauce is so handy to make in advance as it freezes really well. I portion mine into ice cube trays for smaller babies and mini muffin tins for older babies. Each one is a perfect baby sized portion. Then just defrost and serve over some pasta.
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a comment below and tag @babyledfeeding on Instagram so we can see all the deliciousness!
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