Veggie "Cheese" Sauce Pasta

Like most parents I am always looking to find ways to sneak veggies into my kid's diet. And since Hamburger refuses to eat anything he can't feed himself, this task becomes quite a bit harder. But what kid doesn't love pasta?!

This is a VERY healthy mac n' cheese alternative, the "cheese" sauce is actually made entirely of veggies! Does it taste like mac n' cheese? WEEEEEEEELLLLL... It does taste good! And I don't mind eating the leftovers!

Ingredients:
1 package pasta
Breadcrumbs (or make your own)
1/3 cup butter
1 large shallot
3 small sweet potatoes
6 medium sized carrots
1/2 an onion
1/4 cup raw almonds (or any nut that you prefer)
1-2 avocados (optional)
2-3 garlic cloves
Juice of half a lemon
Salt
Black pepper
Cayenne
Paprika

Note: You can really just eyeball these quantities to taste! I give guidelines for about how much I use, but I rarely measure things... Unless it comes to baking ;)

Instructions:
1. Cook your pasta! We like to use spelt pasta around here; spelt is a type of wheat, so it does contain gluten, but spelt is not processed the same way that regular wheat is and therefore retains more of its nutrients. There are, of course, plenty of great gluten free pasta options, including rice pastas!

2. Drain the pasta in a colander and set aside.

3. Set oven to 350 degrees.

4. Chop up the sweet potatoes, carrots, shallots, and onion. Throw them in a saucepan with about 1 cup of water and bring to a boil. Cover the saucepan and bring to a simmer until the veggies are very soft, about 15 minutes.

5. In a blender, combine almonds, garlic, salt, butter, lemon juice, black pepper, and cayenne. Press the button and get it as smooth as possible.

6. Then add the cooked veggies and avocado, if desired, and blend until perfectly smooth.

I absolutely LOVE avocado. And it's insanely good for you... Yes I know it has tons of fat but that fat is GOOD fat and therefore it's wonderful! Plus kids NEED fat! So I sneak in avocado every chance I get. I went overboard here and did 3. I would not suggest so many, stick to 1-2. The sauce color before adding the avocado is a nice orange, very similar to cheddar cheese, obviously the more avocado you add the greener it gets. Do note that when avocado is warmed up the taste becomes stronger, so if you really can't stand avocado I would suggest skipping it. But don't, because avocados are awesome.



7. Combine pasta and sauce in a medium sized baking dish. Sprinkle bread crumbs and paprika on top. Bake until the top is golden brown, about 20 minutes.

It tastes better than it looks... I need to work on my picture taking skills and presentation...

EASY PEASY!

When I reheat the pasta I like to throw it in a skillet and scramble some egg with it to add some protein, you can add chunks of chicken, tuna, maybe some tomatoes or mushrooms... Whatever you and baby like! Get creative! And let me know, cuz I like new ideas :D. Or just eat it as is, it's quite healthy all on its own!