There is no doubt that bolognaise sauce always provides an opportunity to hide a few vegetables from the kids and I’m always interested in what others can ‘get away with’.
So, recently on my Facebook page, I asked what vegetables people hid in their pasta sauce. There was a great response and I ended up with a list including vegetables I would never have considered.
I’ve compiled these so everyone can benefit. There is bound to be some in here that you already use, but I guarantee there will be others you hadn’t thought of either.
16 (+2) ‘Hideable’ Vegetables
The most common…
- Zucchini
- Carrot
- Capsicum
- Onion
- Mushroom
- Tomato
- Garlic
Other great ideas…
- Celery
- Pumpkin
- Potato
- Spinach
- Cauliflower
- Broccoli
- Sweet Potato
- Green Beans
- Cabbage
Plus a couple of legumes (these are the +2)…
- Chickpeas
- Kidney Beans
The secret with all of this is to make the vegetables fairly undetectable. So, in the case of vegetables like pumpkin and potato, the suggestion was to grate them. Another contributor also suggested grating the stems of the broccoli – perfect! For others, cutting them as finely as possible either by hand or using a food chopper is ideal.
In the case of the legumes, any could really be used. Whenever I add them to a sauce, I find the trick is to mash them up and then blend through. If the colour matches pretty well, like kidney beans with beef mince, they ‘hide’ really easily. Others legumes that would work well here include lentils and borlotti beans.
The Klutzy Cook Notes
- My favourite tool for chopping, particularly onions, is a Tupperware chopper I bought a few years ago. It’s one that is hand operated and even though it gets used every day, it’s still going strong. Plus, it’s easy to clean. If you do a lot of cooking, a tool like this is worth investing in.
- On the other hand, if I have lots of chopping to do, then I use my food processor. My food processor is a heavy duty KitchenAid food processor in the gorgeous Empire Red colour. Australian readers can check it out here, otherwise see it on Amazon here.
If you have any vegies to add to list, please write them below. Also, don’t forget to share with your friends by clicking the buttons below.
