Kid-Friendly Tomato Stew

This child-friendly and delicious tomato stew recipe has 4 hidden vegetables that not only boost the nutritional value of the stew but also add a ton of flavor. The best part is that you can take this stew base and use it to make three amazing meals. You can make these meals at once or at any time you like. Plus the stew base can be frozen and used months later.

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Child Friendly Tomato Stew

Kid (and adult friendly) tomato stew recipe with 4 hidden vegetables

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time45 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr

Course: Sauce

Cuisine: Ghanaian

Servings: 6

Ingredients

Tomato+Vegetable Base

• 8 small tomatoes
• 3 small carrots
• 1 celery stalk
• 1 beet
• 2 long red peppers
• 1/4 cup water

Tomato Stew

• 1/3 cup oil
• 1/2 cup tomato paste
• 1 tsp curry powder
• 1 onion finely chopped
• 1 onion roughly choppped
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 small thumb size of ginger
• 2 tsp homemade Ghanaian All Purpose Seasoning recipe on blog
• 1 tsp all purpose seasoning recipe on blog
• 3/4 cup mushroom or vegetable broth

Jollof Rice

• 1 cup tomato stew
• 1.5 cup water
• 1.5 cup long grain rice

Pasta

• 1 cup tomato stew
• 1 cup favourite pasta
• 1/2 cup chopped peppers
• 1/2 cup cooked lentils
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Tomato + Vegetable Base

• In a pot, add the tomatoes, beets, celery and carrots with 1/4 cup of water, cover the pot and cook at medium heat till the beets are tender.
• Once the beets are tender, blend all the vegetables together and set aside. This base is more than you will need for the stew so feel free to freeze what is left for later.

Tomato Stew

• In a pot at medium heat, heat up the oil and add in the finely chopped onions
• Once the onions are soft, add in the curry powder and mix well. Next, add in the tomato paste and let it fry in the oil for 5 minutes till the tomato paste has nicely dissolved with the oil
• While the tomato paste is cooking, blend the roughly chopped onions, garlic and ginger with a little bit of water (1/4 cup of water) till smooth .
• Then, add in the blended onion, garlic and ginger mixture and let it cook in the pot for about 5-10 minutes.
• Next, add 1.5 cups of the tomato+vegetable base we blended before. Give everything a good mix then add in the spices as well as the vegetable broth.
• Cover the pot and let the stew cook for about 15 minutes in medium-low heat till it is not bubbling as much anymore and the oil has separated to the top.
• The stew is now ready. You can serve with rice or any carb of choice.

Jollof Rice

• To make the jollof rice, add one cup of the stew to a pot at medium heat and mix with 1.5 cups of water/vegetable broth. Let the stew and broth mixture come to a boil.
• As the stew is boiling, thoroughly wash your rice. When the stew and water mixture comes to a boil, add your rice and give everything a good mix. Taste the mixture for flavour and adjust with more seasoning or salt based on personal preference.
• Let everything come to a boil then turn down the heat to low to allow the rice to cook. Place a piece of parchment paper in between the cover of the pot and the pot to trap steam in the pot. Let the rice cook at low heat for 15 minutes, give it a good mix, then cover again and let it cook for another 15-20 mins or until the rice is fully cooked.
• Serve with any protein of choice and some veggies

Pasta

• For the pasta, cook about 1-2 cups of your favourite pasta per package instructions. When the pasta is ready, strain and save about 1/4 cup of the pasta water.
• In a pot, add about 1 cup of the tomato stew base, the pasta water, some chopped peppers (frozen vegetables work well too) and about 1/2 cup of cooked lentils (canned lentils work well here — feel free to freeze the rest for later)
• Bring the stew to a boil and cook till the peppers are tender.
• Add you pasta and give it a good mix. Adjust for salt and seasoning based on personal preference and cook everything for about 5 minutes. It is now ready to enjoy.