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This recipe is nutritious, tasty, colourful, not too saucy and packed full of vegetables and is a great way of encouraging vegetables in your fussy eater. The vegetables are not disguised but in plain sight and can easily be picked out by your child if they choose not to eat them. Often fussy eaters have a mistrust in certain foods because they do not trust the ingredients within them. This is why you may have found that your fussy eater likes to have food separated on their plate or a drier texture with not too much sauce. 

If your child loves plain pasta or pasta with cheese then this recipe would be a great next step. You can also decide to leave the tomatoes and spinach out and place them on the side of the plate instead. It all depends on which point of the food chain your child is on! 

A food chain is a journey your child will go on over a period of time to move from one 'not very' nutritious or adventurous food......to........ a similar food that looks and tastes similar but is much more nutritious.

For Example: 

Plain pasta.....to.....

Plain pasta with melted cheese.........to......

Plain pasta with melted cheese with tomatoes, spinach and plain chicken on the side........to.......

Pasta with melted cheese and a cheese or tomato sauce with spinach, tomatoes and chicken on the side........to.........

Pasta with a little sauce and chicken mixed through it with veg on side......to......

The recipe described below - Mediterranean chicken pasta with spinach and tomatoes. A recipe perfect for the whole family.

Ingredients 

200g rigatoni pasta 

1tbsp sunflower oil 

2 cloves garlic, crushed 

400g Piccolo tomatoes halved

100g baby spinach 

1 cooked chicken breast, diced

100g crème fraiche 

70g parmesan. Grated 

125g mozzarella cheese, cubed 

50g Panko breadcrumbs 

Method 

1. Cook the pasta in boiling water according to the packet instructions. Drain. 

2. Heat the oil in a frying pan. Add the garlic and fry for 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes and fry for 2 minutes. Add the spinach and stir until wilted. Add the crème fraiche, chicken, pasta an parmesan. 

3. Toss together. Spoon into an ovenproof dish. 

4. Sprinkle over the mozzarella and panko bread crumbs. Place under a hot grill for 5 minutes until golden.