Pasta for veggies

[RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie]

I need to extend my range of pasta dishes and am finding it difficult because dd2 and I like such different things.

She won't eat mushrooms, artichokes, asparagus, all the things I think are the best things ever to have with pasta. I won't eat tinned tomatoes.

So far I have:
macaroni cheese
butternut squash
a pasta bake with roasted veg, red pesto and cream cheese
pasta pesto with whatever else (uncooked) people want to add into it - cherry tomatoes for her, jarred artichokes for me etc
a sauce made out of melted Philly to which dp and I can add fried mushrooms and dd2 just has Quorn ham and frozen peas
Carlucio's courgette thing, but she doesn't like it much

What else can I make? Anybody got a nice recipe for a fresh tomato sauce with mascarpone, maybe? Any other ideas greatly appreciated - pasta is her favourite thing but we rarely have it because it's so hard to find common ground.

Oh and I am currently food processor-less, so nothing that needs blending, please!

[daisydukes34]

Pea and mint
Spinach and pine nut (my absolute favourite!)
Broccoli and Stilton
Garlic and sun dried tomatoes
Roasted courgette and peppers with cheese on top

Hope this helps or inspires you in some way!

[originalmavis]

Stir in dolcelatte and let it melt into cooked pasta. It is very yummy.

[GreenMarkerPen]

do you/she like courgette?
as substitute for toms it's nice.

spinach + (blue) cheese is also a nice combination

anything stew(ish) can be used as pasta sauce. my dc are partial to lentils+tomatoes.

[Melfish]

I love Rachel Roddy's recipes. This recipe for a red pepper sauce is lovely here and there are loads of recipes, particularly pasta based ones, on her website. She also has a cookbook out called Five quarters which has further recipes. I don't normally buy cookbooks but I followed her blog for a few years and all the recipes I have tried have been delicious and fairly quick and easy (and require minimal cooking items to make them), so I bought the book.

[DoreenLethal]

Could you make up a few batches of sauce that you like, and some that she likes and freeze in small amounts, then just bring out and pop into a pan and then when the pasta is cooked, tumble some into your pan and some into hers?

[SuburbanRhonda]

Grill and skin a pepper (not green). Chop it up, fry in olive oil for a few minutes. Add half a tub of creme fraiche and a whole Boursin or vegetarian garlic and herb cream cheese. Cook pasta, add frozen peas at the end. Stir cheese and pepper sauce into pasta, add torn basil. A staple in our house.

[RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie]

Wonderful. Thank you.

That Rachel Roddy one looks really good and so does your one, Rhonda.

I'd be interested to hear more about the pea and mint one.

She won't eat blue cheese. Dp and I save that to have with mushrooms when she's not eating with us!

[GreenMarkerPen]

does she not like blue cheese or the idea of blue cheese?
danish blue is more buttery and very mild and great in sauces.

[RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie]

I just can't like gnocchi. Have tried but the texture really puts me off.

She doesn't like blue cheese, in idea or reality. :)

[bookbook]

Have you tried pan frying gnocchi? just takes a couple of minutes, and gives it a different texture.
I mostly do tomato based sauces, such as roasting cherry tomatoes with peppers shallots and garlic.
Spinach and peas with some nice truffle oil is good too

[Sadik]

My no. 1 book for interesting pasta recipes (including several uncooked fresh tomato based ones) is Verdura by Viana la Place. I really like one which is basically cauliflower cooked until tender in boiling salted water, then cooked down into a sauce in lots of olive oil with pine nuts and sundried tomatoes (Jamie Oliver does a similar version with broccoli, but it's no where near as good and also IIRC involves anchovies).

[SuburbanRhonda]

sadik, thanks for that recommendation - I've just ordered the book! It looks amazing

[EElisavetaOfBelsornia]

Courgette, pepper and halloumi with s chopped caper sauce.

[EElisavetaOfBelsornia]

Or broccoli, pine nuts, raisins and breadcrumbs. It's Sicilian I think.

[RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie]

Have tried gnocchi every which way but loose - still think they are horrible little creatures, sorry.

Thanks for these. Much appreciated.

[Mominatrix]

Nigella's Sicilian courgette, sultana and Marsala side is lovely and kid friendly as it is slightly sweet

There was a delicious courgette carbonara recipe in the guardian last month which my family loved

Spaghetti tossed with agile olio and sliced cherry tomato, basil


How about soba noodles? You could do peanut soba noodles with cucumber or soba with sugar snap peas in a sesame soy sauce

[faintlyoptimistic]

There's a really nice one that's tagliatelle with green beans, pesto and potatoes (yes, that's right, potatoes).

[fruitlovingmonkey]

Sundried tomato paste and Philly make a very quick and tasty pasta sauce that goes well with broccoli or red peppers.

[fruitlovingmonkey]

Also if you have a blender or a small food processor you could make fresh pesto from spinach or kale. It's really different from shop bought pesto and you can add in different nuts to vary it.

[PurpleDaisies]

We like pasta with roasted butternut squash and red onion with feta, Rosemary, garlic and black olive. Sometimes add pesto and artichokes from a jar.

[CaptainWarbeck]

Carbonara with spinach, courgette and mushrooms (you could sub in something else) is a staple in our house. Really quick and easy to do and yummy.

[RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie]

Thanks all. This has given some great food for thought.