When you think of famed late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel, the word “chef” may not come to mind — mistakenly so. In a YouTube video uploaded at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Kimmel shares with fellow quarantiners his children’s favorite dish: A pasta dish he invented that’s so desirable and “one of the few things [his] kids eat.” Adorably named Pasta Tina after his young daughter’s mispronunciation of the pasta pastina, the dish became a staple in the Kimmel household and is as nutritious as it is delicious. Kimmel has shared other cooking videos online, but Pasta Tina is what he is known for (in the culinary world, at least).

Pasta Tina is simplistic in its composition. It consists of pastina or any other small-sized pasta shape; a sauce made with olive oil, garlic, soup base, and pureed cannellini beans; and sprinkles of “good” parmesan cheese for the finishing touch. The cannellini beans are the secret, yet perhaps most essential, ingredient in the dish — Kimmel’s kids were left in the dark about its presence as he feared their knowledge of the ingredient’s being would deter them from eating their meal.

The act of secretly incorporating vegetables into children’s dishes is not unique to Kimmel; it is widespread among many parents eager to feed their kids nutritious food. Let’s face it, vegetable dishes are not always exciting — especially to young kids. Yet including veggies doesn’t have to be dull and drab. There are many ways to creatively integrate vegetables in children’s pasta dishes that will be a hit in your family, too. It’s just up to you whether or not to tell your kids the truth at the table.

Other veggie-forward pasta dishes for your kids

Even adults sometimes squirm at the idea of adding vegetables to their dishes. But there are truly so many ways to incorporate vegetables into already-famed children’s dishes without adding too much of a veggie-heavy flavor that your kids probably won’t enjoy. Like the Jimmy Kimmel video implied, pasta is a great base when it comes to secretly or not-so-secretly introducing vegetables into your kid’s diet.

Mac and cheese, a classic, can be transformed into a high-veggie meal — there are several vegetables that lend themselves well to the creamy cheese flavor. Most notably, when cooked, cauliflower has the perfect consistency for a cheese sauce. With a mild flavor that complements even the sharpest of cheeses, it is a perfect hit for any family with young kids or picky eaters. Making sauces with a vegetable soup base is another way to incorporate nutrition into kid-friendly pasta meals. In Kimmel’s video, he uses a chicken soup base in his cannellini bean sauce, yet explicitly states that a vegetable soup base could be used instead.

Adding pesto sauces to meals is another easy way to incorporate vegetables into a pasta dish. While the classic pesto is already a vibrant, bright green, if you are going the secretive route, it would seemingly be easy to include green-colored veggies into the mix. Spinach is a traditional vegetable used in a veggie-forward pesto, yet broccoli and zucchini could also be added. Zucchini, specifically, has a mild flavor when cooked, so your kids probably won’t even notice the difference!