If your kids are anything like mine, serving up some vegetables on their plate may just be the most insulting thing you could possibly do to them. Despite years of exposure and keeping on offering vegetables, my kids just won’t have a bar of them.
I know in time, their palates will develop and they’ll be more open to trying new foods, but for now, I sneak them into their meals any way I can so I know they’re getting some good nutrients in with most of their meals.

This hidden bolognese is on heavy rotation in our household. I do a big batch cook, and freeze it up into ice cube trays. Once each tray is frozen, I tip them into a zip lock bag, and dinner on a busy weeknight is as easy as taking out a few cubes of frozen sauce, microwaving it and adding it to the kids favourite pasta shape for the day. (Lately it’s been bow ties!)

I start by chopping and grating up my vegetables – I usually use celery, carrot, zucchini and mushroom – but most vegetables will work. I sautee for 10 or so minutes to soften, then pop it all in the nutribullet with a dash of passatta to make it completely smooth and not at all noticeable for the kids. As the kids grow up and I try to increase their exposure to veggies, I usually leave a bit of the vegetables un-blitzed so they can get used to seeing it in their meal as well.

Here’s the recipe:

2 stalks celery, chopped
1 zucchini, grated
1 medium carrot, grated
2 portabello mushrooms, grated
500g lean beef mince
500g lean pork mince
2 cloves garlic
2 jars passatta
Italian herbs
salt and pepper

Sautee the celery, zucchini, carrot and mushrooms in a frying pan with olive oil until softened.
Transfer to nutribullet (or blender of choice) and add about a cup of passatta from one of the jars. Blitz until smooth.
In a pot, heat olive oil and sautee the beef and pork mince on high, breaking it up as you go. Add the garlic and stir in for 1 minute.
Add in your blitzed vegetables, and the rest of the passatta, Italian herbs and salt and pepper to your taste.
Simmer on low for 1-2 hours.
Transfer to a bowl and cool in the fridge for a few hours. Freeze in batches in ice cube trays, or use straight away for dinner!