Sweet Pea Puree

Pour water into a saucepan to a depth of 1 inch. Put the peas in a steamer basket and put the basket in the saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat. Cover and steam until the peas are bright green and tender enough to mash easily with a fork, about 5 minutes for fresh or frozen peas and about 3 minutes for thawed frozen peas.


Remove from the heat and remove the steamer basket from the saucepan, reserving the cooking liquid. Rinse the peas under cold running water to stop the cooking. Transfer the peas to a food processor or blender and process to a smooth puree. Add enough of the reserved cooking liquid, breast milk or formula to thin the puree to a consistency your baby can handle. Makes about 1 1/2 cups puree.


Store It: Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 3 days, or spoon individual portions into ice-cube trays or other baby-food freezer containers and freeze, covered, for up to 3 months.

Variation: After baby has tried a number of flavors, serve up some creamy combos: swirl together equal parts of the pea puree and rice cereal, or blend pea puree with a little zucchini puree.

Adapted from The Baby & Toddler Cookbook, by Karen Ansel, R. D., & Charity Ferreira (Weldon Owen, 2010).