A Pasta Recipe for your Picky Eater(s)!

Do you have a picky eater in the house?  If so, I’m assuming they are somewhere between the ages of 3 and 8?  I have a 3 year old and she has been quite picky in the past to say the least.  Just when I thought I was understanding her taste, it would change drastically.  First she was interested in tasty foods with lots of spices, then it was bland foods like a piece of white wonder bread or plain chicken.  Today, I am happy to report she is more open minded and will eat a variety of foods with only a little coaxing!  If you can believe it, I’ve been feeding her foods like cereal, scrambled eggs, or French toast for breakfast, salami and bread or chicken nuggets for lunch, and pork tenderloin, lamb chops (her favorite), steak, chicken cutlets, sweet potatoes, broccoli, corn on the cob, or spaghetti for dinner. 

For those of you that are still dealing with a picky eater, more importantly one that would prefer more bland than tasty foods, I’d recommend my linguini dish.  Of course, it doesn’t have to be made with linguini.  Any pasta would do.  It’s a simple recipe with only few ingredients. 

A PASTA RECIPE FOR YOUR PICKY EATER

INGREDIENTS

Kosher and Iodized Salt to taste (Iodized to salt your water to boil your pasta in)
Pepper to taste
1 cup of Pastene ‘Kitchen Ready’ Ground Peeled Tomato Sauce
Extra Virgin or Extra Light Olive Oil (I used Extra Virgin Carapelli)
6-8 garlic cloves depending on their size
Grated Romano or Parmesan cheese (I used Imported Romano)
1 box of linguini (I used Prince and made a 1/2 lb. to feed 2-3 people)

DIRECTIONS:

Fill a pot about 3/4 full and salt with iodized salt.  This keeps the pasta from sticking and adds flavor.  Put it on high heat and cover it (it will come to a boil faster).

While you are waiting for you water to boil, you can start your sauce.  In a reasonable size frying or saucepan, fill the bottom with about 1/4 inch of olive oil.  Add a little kosher salt and pepper for taste.  Add your garlic cloves and cook over medium heat flipping the cloves frequently to keep them from burning.  Once the oil has absorbed the garlic (you’ll be able to smell it); add your cup of Pastene Kitchen Ready Sauce.  It will not mix in well but that’s okay; it’s not supposed to.  The sauce is only to add a little flavor and color without making it a marinara.  Now you can remove your garlic cloves.  Stir the rest of the mixture frequently and cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes.  Now cover and let simmer on very low heat until  your linguini (or the pasta of your choice) is done.

Once I’ve strained my pasta thoroughly, I pour it back in the pot.  Using a regular spoon, I try to remove as many tomato pieces as possible from my sauce as this tends to the part a picky eater may not like to see or eat.  I then use a ladle to spoon the sauce over my pasta.  Now add some Romano (or Parmesan) cheese and mix well.  The image you see above is my plate.  I add additional Romano on top!  I’m a cheese lover; what can I say!

That’s it! Now, Bon appetit!

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A few more things before I let you hop off to someone else’s blog.  Maybe you can take the following information with you?!  I’ve decided to run a giveaway the 2nd Monday of every month and I’m looking for co-hosts (contributors).  My goal is to raise a minimum of $100, but if I can raise more than “go me” and you if you choose to participate!  Just click on the image below for more information.

 

Even more exciting than a $100 giveaway, is our new PINcentive Blog Hop going live in a week!  Haven’t heard about this yet?  Where have you been?  It’s all people can talk about!  Er, I hope it is anyway.  By participating, you will have the opportunity to get your content pinned a minimum of 31 times, increase your traffic and following, and improve your page rank!  And if that’s not reason enough to link up, how about the opportunity to meet new bloggers and make new friends?  Don’t forget to subscribe to receive our email reminder!

If you missed my previous post, Katherine’s Corner, I hope you’ll check it out!  Katherine has a wonderful blog that I highly recommend!  Just be careful; after one visit you may be hooked!

Interested in SEO?  If so, you probably should check out my post on tips to improve your page rank over at The Blog Hangout!  I also include a very IMPORTANT link about Google’s updated comment spam policy.

Okay kids, that’s a wrap!  If you get to try my pasta recipe, feel free to leave me a comment letting me know how it turned out!

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