Baby Bites Tomato and Basil Pasta

Once past the six month mark and baby is able to digest gluten, you can introduce pasta to their meal repertoire which is very handy as again, you can make meals that the whole family can enjoy together.
The below recipe makes enough of this very basic tomato and basil sauce for about ten mini portions of pasta and you can freeze the sauce individually and just cook the pasta to go with when needed. I have tried freezing the pasta in the sauce too and it is edible but becomes a little claggy so I think just freezing the sauce is the best option here.
Tin of tomatoes
Handful fresh cherry tomatoes
1 small onion
1 clove garlic
Handful fresh basil leaves
1 tbsp olive oil
Pasta shapes of your choice - I use baby pasta shells

Firstly very finely dice the onion and crush the garlic. Halve the cherry tomatoes too.
Pop the olive oil into a saucepan on a low heat and gently sweat down the onion and garlic until nicely softened
Add the tomatoes and allow to soften a little before adding the tinned tomatoes.
Finely chop the basil, retaining some for the end and stir into the sauce
Allow to cook on a low heat for a good 20-30 minutes and it will reduce down a little in this time too
In the meantime cook the pasta to instructions, then drain retaining a a tablespoon of the cooking water and stirring through the sauce with the remaining basil
Portion up the sauce and stir through a couple of tablespoons to the pasta you are serving little one in a small bowl
Depending on how far along the weaning road you are this part is optional, but I tend to use a potato masher to ensure there are no choking incidents here and just break up the pasta to even smaller pieces