“Baby has a choice to eat nice looking delicious food, too!”
I was taking nap with my son till not in time to cook his usual lunch porridge in slow cooker. There come this idea of quick fix baby lunch, in less than 15 min!
An entirely new taste over the usual Asian porridge flavor, yet healthy and suitable for baby’s appetite. I added some Italian herbs to my baby pasta. Yea, introducing Western herbs to babies may sound weird to many Asian parents, but it is one of better ways to let our little ones eat varieties, helping them to accept new taste at this very young age so that they will not turn picky eater later on.
Adding of garlic to baby’s diet is also beneficial as garlic contains high anti-bacterial properties. Herbs and garlic are beneficial to our health, including baby’s.
This great flavorful pasta is recommended for baby 12 months up. Not that below 12 months can’t eat this, but baby below 12 months old is best to take semi-solid food, not to forget the main food source is still the milk though.
If really wish to give to baby around 9 – 11 months, mash the pasta before feeding is recommended.
Anyway, this recipe is great as most of the ingredients are organic. With healthy and nutritious picks for my recipe, it is yet delicious. Even adult finds it nice to eat, so why seasoning?! :)
Serves 1 baby
Ingredients
1 heaping tablespoon of organic baby veggie pasta (or any baby pasta of your choice)
1 small wedge of butternut squash, sliced
6 organic cherry tomatoes
1 small of ripe papaya, lightly mashed
Tiny pinch of minced garlic
Tiny pinch of rosemary and thyme herbs
1 tablespoon of water
5 drops of olive oil
Method
1) Heat a small pot of water over medium fire. When water is boiled, add 2 drops of olive oil, followed by baby pasta and cook for 7 minutes.
2) In the meantime, steam butternut and cherry tomatoes for 10 minutes, or until softened. Blend or mash with fork (if choose mashing, peel off tomato skin first).
3) When pasta is cooked till soften, drain and dish up. In the same pot, pour away the water. Heat pot with the remaining 3 drops of olive oil over low fire.
4) Add garlic and herbs. Stir fry till aromatic, but not brown. Add blended/ mashed pumpkin mixture and papaya and stir fry to combine.
5) If necessary, add some water to make it more saucy. Heat off once ingredients are lightly bubbling. Pour sauce over pasta. Serve warm in baby-safe serving bowl or dish.
Reason to use ripe papaya is to give a tinge of natural sweetness instead of adding sugar. Adding of papaya is also good in aiding digestion due to its enzyme properties.
** Best for baby 12 months old up.
Tips: I used my Avent steamer cum blender to do the above steaming/ blending job. Good if you have it for convenience, but it is still fine to cool this recipe even not. Just steam with whatever equipments you are having, will still achieve more or less the same.
* I used Bellamy’s organic veggie pasta. If your baby has less teeth at the moment, slightly chop or mags the pasta before serving. Or, use Heinz star pasta instead. Same thing, for older toddler, may use other chunkier pasta of choice.
* Bellamy’s pasta is available in supermarkets eg NTUC Finest, Xtra, Carrefour, Cold Storage, Four Seasons Organic. Price ard S$7/ box.