HV told me that I could give them from 6 months. The low salt ones! She recommended the little tins of spaghetti too with characters on them, tweenies ect. I thought she was mad till I had a look and they seem to be low everything. At that age I just mashed them in a bit but at around 10 months they can usually eat them without any mashing.
I use tinned haricot beans in water and tomatoes. Same thing without the sugar and salt but healthier. Not so easy I know but Fin likes it.