Pasta with red sauce and tuna

This recipe is nothing fancy but it's tasty and flexible, depending on what you have on hand.

It is inspired by an Annabel Karmel recipe for kids but altered a bit. It can be fed to toddlers (my daughter loves it) or to adults. It served as the basis for our first 'family meal' - where all three of us ate the same dish. Imagine!

If you don't have courgette (zucchini to you Americans) or celery, you can substitute another type of squash, or potato, or just use more carrot and onion. You could add a clove or two of garlic if your toddler is willing.

If you don't have tuna, you can use ground beef, or make it veggie, or add some grated cheese before serving for extra protein and fat. You could probably also use flaked salmon or trout, or perhaps even chicken, but I haven't tried those yet. Let me know how it goes if you do!

6 Tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 small or medium carrot, chopped
1 stick celery, chopped
1 small courgette, chopped
2 400g/14 oz tins chopped tomato
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp basil
1 bay leaf
1 tsp sugar
150g of tinned tuna (or cooked ground beef, chopped fine)
1 Tbsp cream cheese

250g pasta (I use small star pastas for my daughter, and penne for adults)

Heat up olive oil in saucepan. Saute onion, carrot and celery (and optional garlic) until soft, about 5 mins. Add courgette (or optional squash or potato). Saute another 5 mins. Add tomato, oregano, basil, bay leaf and sugar. Bring to boil. Turn down and simmer with top on for about 15 mins.

Cook and drain pasta.

When tomato sauce is done cooking, drain tinned tuna (or cook and chop ground beef) and mix in. Then stir in cream cheese. Mix with pasta and season with salt and pepper to taste.