Mascarpone Pasta with Peas and Carrots

My 21 pound one-year old could eat her body weight in pasta.  This isn't a joke.

After giving her a very good sized bowl at dinner, she signed "more".  So, I walk over to the stove, and scoop more pasta into her bowl.  A short time later, she signs "more" and deliberately points over to the pot sitting on the stove.  3 bowls later, she starts signing again, and pointing.  I had to draw the line.  I mean, her stomach was going to explode.

I've never had issues with sneaking vegetables in to my little one's diet.  Thankfully, she will eat nearly anything I put in front of her, but this pasta dish could hide nearly anything.  I put chicken in this pasta as well.

The best thing about this?  It is homemade (ie no powder cheese sauce here) and it really takes less than 15 minutes to put together.  I simplified a Giada recipe I loved that just took a bit more time than I wished to spend.  The end result, a very happy baby belly.

Mascarpone Pasta with Peas and Carrots
recipe derived from: Giada De Laurentiis

Ingredients:
3/4 pound small pasta, I used fiori
6 oz mascarpone cheese
6 oz cream cheese
1 cup freshly grated parmesan (not from the can...)
1 cup low sodium or homemade chicken stock
2-3 large carrots, pealed and chopped into bite sized pieces
1 cup frozen peas
salt/pepper

Directions:
Boil two pots of water.  One pasta pot, and one medium sized saucepan.  In the pasta pot, boil the pasta with salted water until soft or el dente (depending on your taste or who you are serving).  Drain most of the water out (reserve about 1/4 cup of pasta water).  Meanwhile, in the medium saucepan, boil the carrots.  Once the carrots are soft, add the frozen peas and cook for about a minute.  Drain.

In the pasta pot with the pasta, add the chicken stock, mascarpone and cream cheese.  Stir until melted and smooth.  Add vegetables and top with parmesan.  Season with salt and pepper.

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