Jimmy Kimmel shares the recipe he's been religiously making for his kids

The father of two says the dish has evolved ... and is healthy.

Jimmy Kimmel shares the recipe he's been religiously making for his kids
Jimmy Kimmel/Instagram
April 16, 2020, 9:56 AM

As any parent of a picky eater knows, sometimes it's just not worth the headache of battling it out over mealtime, especially now that parents face a rapidly approaching fifth week of lockdown.

Jimmy Kimmel is one of those parents and, to help those struggling with picky eaters at dinner, graciously shared the dish that's a complete hit with his two young children.

The "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" host, who's the father of 2-year-old Billy and 5-year-old Jane, revealed that his kids are obsessed with a little dish called "Pasta Tina." He showed fans how to prepare the dish by posting a 7-minute video to Instagram on Wednesday.

"It's one of the few things my kids eat and it's a name that they made up," the 52-year-old opened before detailing the origins of the popular household dish. Turns out, Jane couldn't pronounce pastina pasta -- which he calls a "starter pasta" -- and the name just stuck.

"It has evolved, I now use a bigger pasta," Kimmel explained but quickly lets parents know that pretty much any type of noodle will do, but made sure to emphasize that kids prefer "fun shaped" pasta.

After dumping a whole box of cavatappi -- or corkscrew -- noodles into boiling water, he opens a can of cannellini beans to make the sauce. To do that, he processes the beans with an immersion blender "so the children don't know they're eating beans."

Unfortunately for him, his kids were watching and adorably begin to whine, to which the show host quips, "Well guess what? You love them."

Kimmel also throws in three garlic cloves, olive oil and chicken base into the sauce before dumping it into the fully cooked pasta. After topping it with deli-grade Parmesan cheese, his kids happily dive in without complaint.

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