Cooking with Kids: Magic tomato sauce and how to make pizza and pasta dishes

The household staple can turn into so many dishes for young chefs and diners!

Pasta in tomato sauce: the perfect recipe for beginner sauciers!

Tomato sauce is the basis for so many dishes in our house and is the backbone of recipes from all over the world. It can be transformed into a spicy chilli when added to mince fried with some hot spices and beans, it can be used to top a pizza base, or quickly stirred into some freshly cooked pasta. It is one of the first things I teach people to make when hosting cooking classes for either adults or children.

One thing to note when making your magic tomato sauce is the importance of sautéing the onions until they are soft and translucent. Translucent means see-through. It is funny how one ingredient can taste very different when cooked in a variety of ways. It is because chemical reactions happen during cooking to change flavours, the flavour of onion gets milder when you cook it for a long time. For the sauce recipe, you want the onions to be soft and sweet, so a low, slow heat helps with this.

One of the quickest ways to make dinner with your magic sauce is to ask a grown-up to cook some pasta and then when it is still warm toss it in your sauce, and dinner is ready.

Making pizza is a nice activity at any age. I usually buy premade pizza bases and little ones help to spread the sauce, to prepare the cheese and then to decorate the top. For more adventurous eaters lots of ingredients can be added like a sliced pepper mouth, mushrooms or salami eyes or an olive nose.

Magic Tomato Sauce

recipe by:Michelle Darmody

One of the best recipes to teach a young chef-in-the-making - so easy, and so many directions it can go!

Preparation Time

 10 mins

Cooking Time

 30 mins

Total Time

 40 mins

Course

 Main

Cuisine

 Italian

Ingredients

• a dash olive oil

• 1 medium onion, finely sliced

• 6 cloves garlic, crushed

• 2 tins chopped tomatoes

• 2 tbsp tomato puree

• 2 tsp honey and golden caster sugar

• salt and pepper to season

Method

1. Heat the oil in a heavy frying pan that has a lid. Sauté the onion until they are translucent. This means having the temperature really low and allowing the onions to cook slowly. You can pop the lid on as they sauté, it will keep them moist. Just stir every now and then. Add the garlic and stir it in, frying for about thirty seconds.

2. Add the tins of tomatoes, the tomato puree and the honey or sugar. Season to taste. Put the lid back on and allow to bubble over a very low heat for about twenty minutes.

3. Ask an adult to blitz the sauce with a soup gun or in a blender until smooth. Once it has cooled completely you can store it in the fridge. It will last up to a week in an airtight container.

Magic tomato sauce goes well on pizza dough!

Activity: Making a pizza face

Put a variety of possible pizza toppings into small bowls, such as slices of pepper, cherry tomatoes, slices of salami, olives with the stones removed. Or you can use whatever your family enjoys. 

Grate some cheese or if you are using soft mozzarella rip it into small pieces and put the cheese in another bowl. Have some of the magic tomato sauce ready with some large spoons. Heat your oven to hot and have a flat oven tray on hand.

Children can spread the sauce onto the base and sprinkle the cheese on top them pick and choose whatever toppings they would like.

Cook your pizza on the flat tray until the cheese has melted and your base is turning golden. Allow to cool down before cutting and serving.

A Big Pot of Chili

recipe by:Michelle Darmody

This is a Ronseal recipe - it does what it says on the tin! Use the Magic Tomato Sauce, also available on ieFood!

Servings

2

Preparation Time

 10 mins

Cooking Time

 30 mins

Total Time

 40 mins

Course

 Main

Cuisine

 Italian

Ingredients

• 1 small onion, diced

• 1 small chilli, finely chopped – or less if it is a very hot chilli

• 450g minced beef or lamb

• 1 tin red kidney beans

• half of the magic tomato sauce

Method

1. Sauté your onion in a large pan, the same way you did for the magic sauce. Add chilli at the end and fry for about thirty seconds. Add your mince and keep stirring until it is all browned.

2. Get help opening the tin of beans and drain all of the liquid. Add them to your pan. Season it with a half a teaspoon of salt and a quarter of a teaspoon of black pepper. Add in the tomato sauce and allow to bubble away for about thirty minutes. Ask a grown-up to make sure the mince is cooked through.

3. Take a spoon of the chilli and allow it to cool before tasting it. See if you think it needs a little more salt or pepper, this is called seasoning.

4. You can serve your chilli with rice and a spoon of natural yoghurt, or you can sprinkle a herb called fresh coriander on top. If you are using coriander wash the leaves and stems and chop them up.