Delicious pasta covered in a creamy spinach sauce along with healthy caramelized makhana (foxnuts/lotus seed) and raspberries makes a perfect lunch combo.
This recipe is the perfect example of how you can hide veggies in food to trick the kids into eating them otherwise, they wouldn’t touch a bowl full of spinach
Disclaimer: I am not a nutritionist or a dietician, I am doing what is best for my kid to create a balanced lunch.
KIDS LUNCH BOX #30 - Creamy Spinach Pasta + Caramel Makhana + Raspberries
Some kids school lunch box ideas to try…
- Carrot Rice + Cucumber + Fruittellas
- Beetroot Rice + Yogurt + Dates and Nut Ladoo + Cherries
- Palak Chapati + Jeera Aloo + Orange
- Potato Spinach Pancakes + Sprouted Moong & Corn Salad+ Grapes
- Mayonnaise Veggie Pasta + Strawberries + Peanut Chikki
Here is what I packed for school lunch…
LUNCH - Creamy Spinach Pasta - Here is the detailed Spinach Pasta Recipe Link
Creamy Spinach Pasta
Ingredients
measuring cup used ,1 cup = 250ml
- 1.5 cup boiled whole wheat or multi grain Farfalle Pasta (1 Cup raw farfalle pasta)
- 1 cup spinach puree (made from 3-4 cups of raw spinach (i dint blanch spinach in this recipe))
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 3 tablespoon fresh cream or whipping cream
- 2 tablespoons processed cheese grated, (i used amul brand)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil or butter
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper powder
- salt to taste
Instructions
Stovetop Pan Method:
- Firstly, bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Then, according to the package instructions, add some salt to the water and cook the pasta. I used Farfalle, but you can use your favorite pasta. Other good pasta options are penne, spaghetti, or even tortellini!
- While the pasta is cooking, make the spinach puree. I took 3-4 cups of raw spinach in a blender along with ½ cup of water. Blended to make a puree.
- Reserve ¼ cup of the pasta water before draining the pasta. The pasta water contains starches that will help the spinach stick to the pasta and makes the spinach sauce extra creamy.
- Then, heat olive oil in a pan on medium flame. Add minced garlic and saute for 30 secs.
- Next, add spinach puree & sauté it for about 2-3 minutes till the raw smell of the spinach goes away.
- Add in the cream or homemade white sauce, salt, black pepper powder & oregano. Give a quick stir and cook for a minute.
- Follow it by adding boiled Farfalle Pasta. Give it a quick mix and stir fry on high flame for another 1 minute, and pasta in spinach sauce is ready.
- Serve on a plate and sprinkle some cheese over it for garnish.
Video
Notes
Variations
- If you don’t have olive oil, you can either use butter or regular cooking oil.
- You can use any kind of pasta or even Zucchini noodles for a low-carb option.
- Try using Whole wheat, Lentils, or Veggie pasta for kids.
- If you don’t have cream at home you can replace it with the same amount of mayonnaise or full-fat milk or Alfredo white sauce.
- You can also add sweet corn for this healthy spinach pasta, which goes well with spinach.
- If you dont have time to prepare spinach puree, you can just use finely chopped spinach.
Tips
- You can also add cheese to the Pasta while cooking.
- Pasta sauce should not be too thick else after mixing pasta they become dry when eaten later.
- The sauce will seem thin when you start to mix in the pasta. Don’t worry, just keep tossing. The starches from the pasta will mix into the sauce to give a perfect consistency.
Nutrition
SNACK - Caramel Makhana - Here is the Caramel Makhana recipe link.
SNACK - Raspberries - I always use organic berries and I wash them before packing them into the lunch box.
Prep Work For The Previous Evening
- You can cook plain pasta the previous evening and prepare spinach sauce in the morning and mix it together.
- You can prepare caramel makhana one day before and store this in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Packed in a stainless steel tiffin box called Lunchbots which is Eco-Friendly, Dishwasher Safe, BPA-Free and is easily available on Amazon. Do not use plastic lunch boxes to your kids, they are toxic.
- You can increase or decrease quantity based on your child's appetite.
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