A MUM of 12 has revealed the simple one-pot pasta dish that got her out of a cooking rut – and it’s quick to make too.
Zoe Sullivan, 45, husband Ben, 49, and their dozen children make up one of Scotland’s biggest families.
Mum-of-12 Zoe Sullivan revealed the easy one pot dinner she makes for her family[/caption]
Zoe said she’s bored of the usual meals she serves up[/caption]
The couple are parents to Elisabeth, 19, Olivia, 17, Noah, 14, Evangeline, 12, Tobias, 11, Agnes, six, Joseph, five, Florence, two, and two sets of twins – Charlotte and Isabelle, 16, and Leah and Erin, eight.
The bumper brood live in a six-bedroom house in Burghead, Moray, where they regularly document their hectic lives on their YouTube channel.
In a recent post, Zoe revealed she was feeling bored by the meals she was dishing up to her kids.
She said: “You know what it’s like, you’ve got your spaghetti bolognese, you’ve got your chilli, you’ve got all the things that you like to cook
“But every now and again you think ‘oh just try it [something new]’.
“We all get stuck in that rut don’t we of cooking the same meals because it’s easy, because you know how to, because you know people like them but sometimes it’s nice to try different things.”
So she decided to branch out and try something slightly different, a quick one-pot mince pasta.
And like with most things in her life, Zoe had to make two huge batches of the dish to make sure there was enough for her family who often eat at different times.
Zoe started off by browning the mince and chopped onions before adding garlic, herbs, chilli flakes, tomato puree and chopped tomatoes.
She then mixed up some beef stock and add an unlikely ingredient to make it creamy, milk.
“I’ve never actually done something where you add milk like this”, she admitted.
“So it’s a new one on me.”
Finally, the supermum added dried pasta to the pot, brought it to the boil and then simmered before adding cheese.
From there, it was ready within 20 minutes and served up wtih garlic bread.
Zoe said: “I didn’t really know what it was going to turn out like to be honest but it’s really, really nice.”
And social media users are already desperate to give it a try for themselves.
“Love this recipe looks really nice”, said one.
A second wrote: “It looked delicious you and Isabelle work really well together, well done.”
“This dish looks amazing”, gushed a third.
A fourth chimed in: “Looks delicious, I’m going to be trying this today with my daughter.”
Zoe's one pot pasta
Recipe for 6 people:
- 750g Beef Mince
- 1-2 Onions
- 4 Cloves of Garlic crushed
- 1 1/2 Tbsp Italian Herbs
- 1/2 Tsp Chilli Flakes
- 1 1/2 Tbsp Tomato Puree
- 600g Chopped Tomatoes
- 600ml Beef Stock
- 1 1/2 Cups of Milk
- 3 Cups of Pasta
- Grated Cheese to finish
A fifth added: “Wow Sullivan family, another great meal. Love to watch you cook your recipes.
“I can’t imagine how you get it done in what seems like a tiny kitchen.”
Meanwhile, a sixth said: “Zoe it looks lovely will be trying that.”
We told earlier how Zoe only gets four hours of sleep each night – but would still never say never to baby number 13.
The supermum gets up every morning at 4.45am after only settling down the night before at around midnight.
She said: “I can’t bear being late to anything, and I can’t bear being rushed.
“So if I get up early, I can have a shower, think about what I’m going to do for the day, and get ready.
“I like to get some of the chores in as well before the kids go to school, so I might do two loads of washing and those sorts of things. It does let me get more done.
“I don’t get to bed until around midnight, so I probably average four or five hours’ sleep – on a good night.”
But she still “would never say no” to having another baby, and added: “I think the more we had, the more we realised how much we love having a big family.
“And to be honest, the more you have, the easier it gets, in a weird sort of way.”