Tomato Pasta with Hidden Veg

Scratch tomato sauce with leek as the base instead of onion/garlic — zucchini and red pepper blend in invisibly with the stick blender. One pot plus the steam oven, about 35 minutes.

Updated 2026-06-11 · v2 · pasta / vegetarian

One pot + steam oven · ~35 min · serves 5 Scratch tomato sauce, no onion/garlic — leek carries the base. Zucchini and pepper disappear into the sauce with the stick blender.

Ingredients

• 450 g pasta (penne or fusilli)
• 2 leeks, sliced
• 1 medium zucchini, grated (hidden)
• 1 red bell pepper, finely diced (hidden)
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 kg passata (or 2 × 400 g tins whole peeled tomatoes, crushed)
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tsp dried oregano (or a handful of fresh basil at the end)
• 50 g parmesan, grated + extra for the boxes
• ½ tsp salt + pepper
• 1 head broccoli + 3 carrots

Method — by station

The sauce builds in the one pot, the pasta boils in it afterwards, and the plain veg steam alongside. Blend the sauce before the cheese for invisible veg.

🫧 Steam Oven (runs alone)

Steam oven — no preheat needed; set it going from cold.

1. Broccoli florets and carrot batons on the perforated tray. Setting: Dampf (pure steam), 100 °C, 100 % humidity, ~12 min. Remove and set aside.

🔥 Hob — one pot

Sauce (~20 min)

2. Medium-low heat: soften the leek in the oil ~5 min without browning.
3. Add the zucchini and pepper; cook ~4 min until collapsing.
4. Add the passata and oregano. Low heat, lid half on, simmer ~12 min until thick and sweet.
5. Off the heat: stick-blend until completely smooth, then stir in the butter and parmesan.
6. Pour the sauce into a bowl; rinse the pot.

Pasta — same pot (~10 min)

7. High heat: boil the pasta in plenty of water until just tender; drain.
8. Return pasta to the pot, fold the sauce back through over low heat for 1 min.

🍱 To assemble

9. Lift out the baby’s portion before salting, then season the rest.
10. Pasta into each container, steamed broccoli and carrots alongside, extra parmesan on top. Cool, then fridge. Don’t forget the work portion.

Notes

• Blending before the cheese is the trick — the sauce goes glossy and the veg vanish entirely.
• A pinch of sugar or an extra knob of butter fixes a sharp batch of tomatoes.
• Reheat in the steam oven, lid off, 10–15 min, with a splash of water. Keeps 3 days.
• Lane: creamy/saucy — rotates against the chicken noodles and mac & cheese.

Changelog

• v2 — fixed the method steps so they render as a numbered list (blank lines before each block); continuous numbering through assembly.
• v1 — first version.

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