hidden vegetables mince meat

Hi there. Ready for another recipe???
Originally this one is from Annabel Karmel's book, however I made some changes in my version.
This meat sauce turned out to be so good that I would it eat myself with some pasta. Despite the fact it is beef dish, the sauce is loaded with goodness of vegetables and the good part is that if your baby is a fussy eater and doesn't like veggies, he/she won't feel them there so easily.
(12 months +) - but you can blend it in very smooth paste and give to your baby starting from 9 months.

Hidden vegetables mince meat.

You'll need:

1 small onion, chopped

1/2 stick celery, cubed

1/2 big or 1 medium size floret of cauliflower, cut into smaller pieces

1 small carrot, cut into small cubes

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1/3 apple, chopped

1 large tomato, skin and seeds removed (I don't bother to remove all the seeds just the ones I see when I cut it into quarters)

200 - 250 g mince meat

3 tbsp tomato puree

150 ml water

salt and pepper to taste

The list might scare you as it's quite long but believe me it is not really a time-consuming recipe and simple to make.

Preparation:

Heat small amount of oil in a pan, add first 6 ingredients and saute until quite soft but not mushy. I took me about 15 minutes I believe. In the mean time I put the tomato in a blender and made puree out of it. Once the vegetables are ready, add them to the tomato puree (be careful the mixture is hot) and process until smooth or almost smooth. Set it aside for now.

Fry the mince meat in a pan with a little bit of oil (if meat has some fat in it I don't use any oil at all). Mash the mince while frying to achieve the desired consistency. Cook meat until brown. If you want it to be very smooth without any lumps you can use the blender once the meat is cooked through.

I cooked the meat in a pot. This way when I mixed all the ingredients it was easier to stir. So once the beef is cooked add the tomato and veggie sauce, tomato puree and water into it. Mix well, bring to boil, lower the heat to minimum and simmer for 45-60 minutes until the sauce thickens. Season  to taste.

And voila! It is ready. I got five 5oz portions.

As you can see in the picture this time I served it with some mashed potatoes. Last time I cooked a small handful of vermicelli and mixed it into the sauce. My daughter loved it.

Let me know what you think.

That's all for now...

take care there.