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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think pasta pesto isn't a universal kid friendly meal?

258 replies

IHaveBrilloHair · 13/02/2017 18:16

I often see this stated as a meal that all kids like, up there with pizza/nuggets/fishfishfingers, but I honestly don't know many kids who like it, and know more who wouldn't know what it is.
Dd's too old for playdates now but I'd never have served it, not in a million years, is it really universal kid food?
Admittedly we live in a small Scottish town but we have a Waitrose, and a Private school, it's not some weird backwater.

OP posts:
RatOnnaStick · 13/02/2017 18:45

I've no idea if mine like it because I can't stand the smell so it never makes an appearance here.

Wadingthroughsoup · 13/02/2017 18:47

One of mine only likes green pesto, the other one only likes red. And yes, like a twat, I split the pasta between two pans to cater for their whims. I rarely make it though really.

CantstandmLMs · 13/02/2017 18:47

I look after 3 (have had them 10 years) pesto pasta is served every week it is a fave and takes 10 mins. Win! They wouldn't touch a cheese sauce though.

I look after 2 others though who wouldn't entertain pesto pasta but like pasta and cheese sauce. Same with previous kids I looked after.

I've had a lot of kids back for play dates and I ask if they like pesto and almost all of them do so that's handy!

TheApprentice · 13/02/2017 18:47

My ds has a cashew allergy so pesto is out. Hadn't realised cashews were in it till he was diagnosed! I like it though.

WhoKn0wsWhereTheTimeG0es · 13/02/2017 18:48

One of mine loves it (and tomato based sauces), the other doesn't. The one who likes it won't touch sausages/nuggets/fish fingers/chips though.

Artandco · 13/02/2017 18:48

We always make fresh though, it takes two minutes

SoupDragon · 13/02/2017 18:49

There is no such thing as a universal kid friendly meal.

OrangeSamphire · 13/02/2017 18:51

I've never served pasta pesto to a child, or anyone!

I like fresh pesto but would serve it with a tomato and mozzarella salad or with chicken, not pasta. The jars taste bland and bitter to me.

My two rarely have pasta but if I make it for them it would usually be with a homemade tomato veg sauce or with flaked white fish (we live in a fishing village), garlic and parsley.

WeAllHaveWings · 13/02/2017 18:52

We bought pesto once, never again, vile stuff, no one ate it.

Serin · 13/02/2017 18:57

Ours would eat it if there was nothing else,but seriously how is this considered "Middle class" or even worthy of the term "a meal"?

Nutritionally it is just empty carbs surely?

DD was recently mocked at university (for tucking into scrambled egg and beans on toast) by a girl who eats pesto stirred through pasta every night.

OSETmum · 13/02/2017 18:57

Ds (7) would find it far to boring and lacking in meat! He likes pasta with a tomoato based sauce with salami and cheese or macaroni cheese with ham and peas though.

Artandco · 13/02/2017 18:59

Oset- you don't have to have just pesto and pasta. If I do it it's with chicken and mushrooms and bacon usually

NarkyMcDinkyChops · 13/02/2017 19:01

3/4's of mine love it....but only if its red pesto, never green.

Sara107 · 13/02/2017 19:01

Its about the only thing my 7 year old will reliably eat.

nanny3 · 13/02/2017 19:04

mine would eat pasta in any thing fishfingers and pizza never

NarkyMcDinkyChops · 13/02/2017 19:04

My ds has a cashew allergy so pesto is out. Hadn't realised cashews were in it till he was diagnosed! I like it though

It's only in some, its very easy to get pesto without cashew nuts (its not really supposed to have any at all, so a decent kind won't have any)

Bensyster · 13/02/2017 19:06

My kids like it but always severed pasta with tomato sauce on playdates - sometimes pizza....can't be arsed with fussy eaters.

MiladyThesaurus · 13/02/2017 19:08

My children aren't particularly fussy, but DS2 will not eat pasta with pesto. DS1 did when he was little (and still would at 16) but DS2 has never liked it.

I'm pretty sure there is no such thing as a meal that is universally liked by children.

CarTrack · 13/02/2017 19:16

The one and only time I've given pesto ended in my youngest being blue-lighted to hospital, due to a unknown nut allergy. So for that reason I hate the stuff.

Artandco · 13/02/2017 19:17

Pesto is pine nuts not cashew nuts, well it should be. Some pre made add cashews I think as cheaper

EineKleine · 13/02/2017 19:20

My kids like it but we have pine nut allergy in the family. In my mind it's allergenic so I'd avoid serving it to visiting children.

expatinscotland · 13/02/2017 19:21

I'd never dream of serving that up as a meal in a million years.

madein1995 · 13/02/2017 19:23

I do like pesto pasta now (with chicken, and cheese on top)

As a child I was a relatively fussy eaters (well not fussy exactly as I ate lots of things, but very particular about my food) and I wouldn't have ate pesto pasta. Purely because of the fact it is green and so I would think it vegetable. I did eat pasta - plain, with butter and ketchup. When I was around 8 I graduated to putting a bit of grated cheese with it.

Muddlingalongalone · 13/02/2017 19:23

I bought pesto for the first time in ages and had forgotten how much I liked it.
Dd2 is 2 and a pasta fiend and wasn't impressed
Definitely wouldn't serve it for a playdate. Pizza, jacket potatoes, Meatballs & pasta, roast chicken or freezer food all the way for Dd1's friends.

Giddyaunt18 · 13/02/2017 19:26

It's a no go for my nut allergic DD!

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