I felt compelled to share a childhood memory with you today. Don’t ask me why, but I got hungry for this recently, and the only challenge was to actually write down the recipe, as there actually really was none. My children grew up on this to an extent as well, and I dare say that I think my mom came up with the recipe years ago – hence “Mom’s Tomato Kindersauce” – I just recorded it as I remembered it.
It is even better the next day on any kind of pasta you can think of. The best part: you can tweak it and sneak in all those veggies your kids won’t eat (puréed). For a while, before we resorted to other tactics, my kids had a lot of “white” sauce (with cauliflower), “green” sauce (either broccoli, beans or peas), “orange” sauce (carrots) and “yellow” sauce (squash). 
This sauce is also “kinderleicht” (a kid could make it), so you’ll find yourself resorting to it here and there when you have to whip up something really quick after a long day. Enjoy!
What dishes do you remember from your childhood?
1 liter (4¼ cups) milk- 50 g (1/3 cup) corn starch
- 100 g (1/3 cup plus 2 tbsp) heavy liquid cream
- 340 g (1⅓ cup) tomato paste
- 10 g (4 tsp) mixed Italian herbs (to taste)
- salt, pepper
- Heat up the milk to almost a boil in a pot with a thick hull (this will prevent burning at the bottom).
- In the meantime, sift the starch into the cream and mix until it forms a thick paste. It should have no lumps.
- Take a little bit of the hot milk and dissolve the starch even further, then stir the starch mix into the milk until dissolved.
- Stir in the tomato paste until dissolved. Add salt and pepper to taste, along with the herbs.
- Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat. The sauce should be bubbling and thicken. Remove from heat.
- Serve over any pasta of your choice.
What a great dish from your childhood! I’d never think to put corn starch in a sauce like this but it must make it so thick and velvety.
IMHO, it’s a wonderful pasta sauce. My Turkish-born husband would totally disagree, but since I’m the one cooking at home, I can ignore that, right?!
My toddler would just love this!! A must try for sure!
Thanks for stopping by! Yes, I bet he would! And if/when you do make it, hand him his own utensils and take a picture, then send it to me. I promise, I WILL post it.
I remember this sauce with pasta from my childhood. Sometimes we had a fried egg on top for a treat. The egg needs to be lightly fried, so lots of egg yolk and soft egg white runs into the pasta … yummie! Sometimes I made this for my children too when they were small.
Kerstin recently posted..Forage Recipe – German Wild Garlic Dumplings (Bärlauch Knödel)
Hmmm, and I thought my mom made that up!
We never had it w/ egg, tho, so it may be another version of this. Be that as it may, it’s LECKER.
My mom used to make something like this before but she adds some mushrooms as well
Raymund recently posted..Cassava Cake
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This has some bonuses here. The cream and tomato is a tasty blend and the sauce is quick to fix. Those alone get my vote. However, your picture tells a delicious story too-yum! Enjoy the weekend!
Tina@flourtrader recently posted..Colonsay Isle Cookies
Thank you! The base minus the tomato paste was always my mom’s go-to thing for sauces when there was no time. Have a great weekend as well!
oh this is such a good idea, i love the part about sneaking in those vegetables! i’ll definitely be trying this out with my lil one!
Jenn and Seth (@HomeSkilletCook) recently posted..Baked Pork Flower Dumplings with Soy Ginger Dipping Sauce
If you do, please let me know how it went!
That looks so gorgeously creamy and delicious–I don’t think the appeal of this one is limited to kids!
Cucina49 recently posted..Bit o’ Honey
I still love that stuff, and my almost-grown kids do, too.
It might be a European thing because my Russian mother did something similar. I never liked tomatoes or tomato sauce so she’d add milk, cream, sugar, carrots, etc. to get me to eat it. As an adult, I still don’t like tomatoes but I do like a pink sauce
Anita at Hungry Couple recently posted..Springtime Martini
I guess we all get very resourceful when trying to outwit our toddlers.
My daughter has always been a pretty good eater, but our son (the one who now literally devours everything) tried to be picky at one point.
Interesting – I never had anything like it growing up, but I believe you it’s heavenly!
Kiri W. recently posted..Guest Post Thursday – Napa Cabbage Vegetable Stir Fry With Ramona Of Curry And Comfort
It’s not a German thing per se, I think my mom came up w/ it – so not surprised that you’ve never heard of it.
So cool Sophie! Great idea to puree veggies
I’m saving this recipe!!
Lyn @LovelyPantry recently posted..Polenta with Parmesan and Parsley, Mozzarella and Tomato
My kids still think I’m mean for having done that. I am predicting they will thank me for the idea in a few years.
Creamy and eay! I see how kids (an not only them) would love it!
PolaM recently posted..Chayote Frittata
Full disclosure: my husband doesn’t like this, he thinks it’s a pseudo-tomato sauce. But in this case it’s 3 against 1, so who cares.