As parents, we sometimes try to have recipes in our rotation that can be made quickly, thawed or warmed up. Once you make a batch of these ABC Os, you’ll never go back and buy the canned stuff! YUCK-O!
I have a love affair with my immersion blender. It lets me puree hot soups and hide veggies in sauces without the hassle of cooling and moving it to a blender.
As a busy mom, I don’t always have the time to wait for things to cool enough to transfer to the blender and all that. Plus, with two extremely picky eaters, tomato sauce is the easiest place to hide veggies without them noticing. Call it a nutrition packed sauce if you must, but the point is the same: lots of veggies hidden in tomato sauce kids will love and nobody complains.
See how easy it is? Seriously. Make the sauce, blend and add cooked pasta.
This recipe has been such a hit with my kids that I finally included it in our MOMables menus.
Healthy Spaghetti-ABC-O’s Recipe
MOM Tip: Use leftovers for lunch. Preheat your thermos so the soup remains warm till lunch. Pack with a grilled cheese or bread roll and fruit.
Ingredients
Sauce Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 2 medium carrots
- 1 cup broccoli florets, chopped (optional)
- 1 zucchini, chopped
- 1 stalk celery, diced
- 1 small onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes or tomato puree
- 1 14-ounce can crushed tomatoes or tomato puree
Pasta:
- 16 oz bag of ABC pasta, shells or macaroni, cooked
Instructions
Crockpot Directions:
- Add all ingredients in a crockpot for 4-6 hours on low.
- With an immersion blender, puree sauce. You might have to add a bit of water until you have the traditional sauce consistency you like.
Stove top Directions:
- Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the bell peppers, carrots, broccoli, zucchini, celery, onions and garlic. Sauté until veggies are soft, about 5 minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook for 1 more minute, stirring constantly.
- Add the tomatoes, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Remove from heat, puree with an immersion hand blender (or in a regular blender) until almost smooth.
- Return sauce to the heat and simmer until thick, 10-20 minutes. The longer you simmer this sauce the thicker and more flavorful it will become. You can simmer up to 2 hours
To serve: Serve pasta on a plate pour sauce over pasta. Mix well.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: Family Sized: Serves 6-8
If I am doing the crockpot version, do I still have to pre-cook the pasta before adding to the crockpot? Thanks!
Laura, you can add uncooked pasta 30 to 40 minutes before serving -although i rarely cook pasta in the crockpot because I don’t like the texture. cook it separately, and mix at the end –it’s what I would do.
Silly question Laura, if doing the crock pot version, do I still use the immersion blender? I just purchased one! Can’t wait to try this!!! 🙂
yes, use an immersion blender even in the crockpot version 🙂
Oh my do sorry… I just re read the above and see my questions answer…. Yes to the immersion blender! Sorry!!
Made this for dinner last night and my very picky three year old ate it up! This was the first time he’s eaten a red sauce. My fairly picky husband also ate it, and no one had any idea it was loaded with vegetables. A winner! Thank you so much! I’ve enjoyed all the recipes I’ve made from your site.
so glad you liked my ABC O’s! 🙂