Sweet Tomato and Ricotta Spaghetti With Piccolo!

My two little ladies are obsessed with the 'Piccolo' range so when we were asked to create our own version at home of course we jumped at the chance!

My Little Piccolo and ASDA have recently teamed up and they gave us a voucher to head there to get the ingredients.

So the stage 2 pouch is a wonderfully classic Italian spaghetti made with fresh plum tomatoes, smooth creamy ricotta, plus a little Montello cheese. A deliciously rounded sauce is finished with crushed red pepper and a hint of basil to give little tummies their first authentic taste of Italy. 


Stay reading for pics at the bottom to see how ours turned out!

Here is the recipe I followed in case you fancy giving it a go too!

Including prep time it was around 45 minutes, we made a huge batch and ended up freezing it too!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 tin of chopped tomatoes (400g)
• 4 fresh basil leaves, chopped
• fresh black pepper
• 1 carrot, peeled and finely chopped
• 200g pasta (spiral or spaghetti)
• 100g ricotta
• 1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
• ½ a red pepper, de-seeded and finely chopped
• 1 tbsp of tomato paste
• 1 clove of garlic, peeled and crushed

METHOD

1.  In a saucepan, heat the olive oil and add the onion and garlic and sauté these until they are transparent (around 8 minutes). Add the chopped red pepper and carrot and cook for a further few minutes.
2.  Add the tin of tomatoes, tomato paste and a few twists of the black pepper mill and stir. Increase the heat slightly and let the sauce start to bubble away for a few minutes, then reduce the heat.
3. Put on a large pot of salted water and bring to the boil, add pasta to water and cook until 'al dente' approximately 8- 10 minutes.
4. Add the ricotta, parmesan and basil to the sauce and stir through.
5. Either puree or leave as a chunky tomato sauce.

What are your favourite meals for all the family?


Love Rebecca x