We’re at the stage where I’m not getting V to eat a vegetable if I haven’t hidden it in his food. Honestly, I usually don’t care – he eats healthy enough with plenty of protein and whole foods. I figure since he’s not eating junk, it’s fine; he’ll likely start eating them by college. (That’s how my brother was.) But if it is possible to sneak in veggies in a way that doesn’t require additional effort and is something I’d genius want to eat anyway, why not? That’s how I came to create a sauce made from zucchini – I couldn’t tell him there was zucchini, naturally, so we dubbed this grinch sauce. And it was a HUGE hit.
I made the recipe by the seat of my pants, but it was delicious and very easy: while your pasta is cooking (preferably a short pasta), sautée chopped zucchini in olive oil till it’s soft. Add minced garlic in last 2 minutes. Turn off heat and hit it with an immersion blender until it’s as smooth as you can get it. Put the heat back on low and add ricotta (it actually doesn’t need much), Parmesan, lemon, salt/pepper/any other herbs. Add pasta water little by little til it’s the consistency you like. Pour over pasta and add more parm.
I served it with salmon, a Finn favorite, making this a top meal for him. This can be easily adapted for adults or wilder palettes. Roasted corn or chopped walnuts would be good. But, honestly, it’s kinda perfect as is.
