CREAMY VEGAN TOMATO MACADAMIA PASTA

Creamy vegan tomato macadamia pasta for my picky eater. She is almost 3 years old and her favorite meal these days is spaghetti with ketchup. I made her my own nourishing version of spaghetti with ketchup and luckily she loved it.

Recipes for picky eaters

My youngest daughter used to eat a variety of my home cooked vegan meals with good appetite before this picky phase. I remember these phases all too well, because I’ve been in this situation twice before with my 8 year old daughter and 6 year old son.

When I started Myberryforest blog one of my ideas was to share kid-friendly recipes with hidden vegetables.

Here are some hidden veggie recipes, which my picky eaters loved

Crispy sweet potato fries with avocado-broccoli dip

Nourishing tomato soup with savory rainbow sprinkles

Baked cashew cheese

Kid-friendly green smoothies and a little green smoothie guide

Fudgy eggplant brownies

Creamy vegan pasta for picky eaters

Pasta is always a good choice for picky eaters. I think I’ve cooked more vegan mac n’ cheese and pasta casseroles in my life than anything else 🙂 The key ingredient in a sauce or casserole is always something creamy!

My favorite creamy ingredients are:

1. Nuts and nut butters: especially macadamias, cashew and almonds and also peanut butter works amazingly.
2. Oat for cooking: an oat-based cooking cream
3. Coconut cream or thick coconut milk
4. White beans: when cooked and blended, white beans are very soft and creamy.
5. Cauliflower: when steamed soft and blended, cauliflower becomes super creamy.

When my daughter is having a super picky phase, I’ll stick to safe ingredients found on the top of the list and leave beans and cauliflower aside. This time I chose nuts.

Cashews make a delicious creamy base, but have you tried macadamias? They are amazingly creamy due to their high fat content, and thus make an excellent base for any pasta sauce. Macadamias are also pretty easy to blend if you soak them first for about 30-60 minutes. If you have a powerful blender no soaking is required.

This pasta comes together in about 35 minutes and is eaten in about 5 🙂

Creamy vegan tomato macadamia pasta

Tiina @myberryforest

This creamy vegan tomato macadamia pasta is like a nourishing and creamier version of pasta with ketchup. I created this recipe for my 3 year old picky eater and she loves it!

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine gluten-free, vegan

Servings 4

Ingredients

  

• ~2 cups cherry tomatoes
• 3 garlic cloves (not peeled)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• fresh or dried oregano and thyme or other herbs you like
• salt and pepper
• 1/2 c macadamia nuts (unsalted, not toasted)
• ~1 tbsp tomato paste or to taste
• ~1/2 tsp sugar or to taste
• pasta for four Either regular or gluten-free pasta

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 200 C / 392 F.
• Mix tomatoes, garlic cloves, herbs, olive oil in a baking tin. Add pinch of salt and black pepper.
• Bake for 30 minutes.
• Soak macadamias in boiling water for 30 minutes. This phase is not necessary if you have a powerful high-speed blender.
• Cook pasta.
• Rinse and drain macadamias. Squeeze roasted garlic out of the peel.
• Blend the macadamias together with the garlic, roasted tomatoes and all the liquid in the baking tin until smooth and creamy.

  Taste the sauce and if the sauce needs some balancing of flavors, add tomato paste and sugar. Depending on the sweetness and umami flavor of the roasted tomatoes, you might need to adjust the amount of tomato paste and sugar.
• Mix sauce with pasta and enjoy warm.

Notes

If there's leftover sauce store it well covered in the fridge and use it in soups / sauces as a cream.

Keyword creamy, kid-approved, macadamia, pasta, picky eaters, tomato

ps You can follow me also on Pinterest 🙂