When you’re a working parent or caregiver, finding time to put nutritious kai in lunchboxes or on the table is tricky.
To help lighten the load, each week we’ll share one of our favourite recipes. These recipes are budget friendly as we
use seasonal veg and fruit. And for tamariki or whānau members with allergies, we’ll provide substitutes to give
you options. Righto, here we go!
Vege pasta snacks
This delightful recipe is a hit in our house! And bonus, it’s super easy to throw together. Created by one of Aotearoa’s
most amazing nutritionists for tamariki, Dr. Julie Bhosale, they work well warm or cold and are great for the lunchbox.
We make batches of these, freeze them in a container, and just pop them in lunchboxes the night before, so they thaw
out in the fridge overnight.
Ingredients
- 1 carrot
- 1 small head broccoli
- 200g macaroni pasta (raw). GF: Use GF macaroni or a pulse pasta
- 1 1/2 cups of grated cheese (1 cup in the mixture and 1/2 sprinkled on top). DF: Use a DF cheese
- 1 egg. Egg Free: Use flax egg
- 2 tbsp butter – DF: Leave this out – they still work out perfectly
- 1/2 cup wholemeal breadcrumbs (plus a little extra for sprinkling on top) – GF: Use GF breadcrumbs
Method
- Preheat oven to 180ºC
- Line a medium sized muffin tin with baking cups/cupcake cases
- Make a vege puree by chopping and steam the carrot in a pot, when nearly cooked, chop and add the broccoli
and cook that too. No need to overdo it here, as you want them to remain vibrant. Retain a little of the cooking
water to blend the steam veges and make your puree using a blender, food processer or whatever you have at home.
Tip: If you have a few carrots or broccoli in the fridge that you need to use up, puree them and pop this in the freezer.
Then you’re ready to make another batch of these whenever it works for you. - While your veges are steaming away, cook the macaroni as per the instructions on the packet. Drain and set aside.
- Add the egg, cheese, butter into a large bowl and whisk. Add the cooked macaroni, vege puree and the breadcrumbs
and mix gently to combine. - Spoon into baking cups.
- Combine the 1/2 cup grated cheese with some breadcrumbs to make a topping. Sprinkle on top.
- Bake for 30 minutes
- Cool a little before removing from the tray
Other tips
- You can use whatever vege you like in these really – cauliflower would work as well as the broccoli, while potato or parsnip could work as a substitute for carrot.
Source: This recipe features in “Feed the Tribe” by Dr. Julie Bhosale. She shares many of her insights on her website Dr. Julie Bhosale – Baby Family Nutrition And Wellbeing Expert.
And you can also purchase her books. If you’d like to view her books before you buy, or borrow one for a bit, please ask us. Thanks!
