Cooking leftovers - Italian style
My Italian wife Laura and her kitchen-genius mamma are constantly impressing me with how many dishes they can whip up from next to nothing. Whatever is left in the fridge, be it veggie bits or leftover noodles, they're able to transform it into a dish I’ve never tried before. And it's those kinds of tasty revelations this page is all about. So let's get busy cooking leftovers... Simply click on your leftover food below: Pasta serving(s) / Turkey or Chicken / Veggies / Bread Leftover: one or more servings of pasta Let’s say you made tagliatelle with a nice tomato sauce but you have leftover noodles... it’s easy to turn this little lot into a nutritious plate or sandwich-full. All you need is: eggs (one large egg per 100g/3.5oz portion of leftover pasta), a little grated parmesan, salt and olive oil. Here’s how:
- Add enough salt to lightly cover each yolk - Add a tablespoon or two of grated parmesan cheese - Whisk using a fork - Drop in the pasta and mix thoroughly (coating the pasta in the egg mixture) - Coat the base of a frying pan (sized to just hold the amount of pasta you have) and heat on a hob until hot (if you drop in a piece of pasta it should sizzle nicely).
- Now to turn it, place a large plate over the pan and carefully ‘flip’ it to upturn the frittata onto the plate. Then slide the frittata back into the pan and cook the other side. - Serve sliced on a plate or pop it in a panino (sandwich). Voila – frittata di maccheroni (pasta omelette)! Leftover: cooked turkey (i.e. after Christmas or Thanksgiving) Why not use this bit of ‘extra bird’ to create a scrummy, creamy and super-filling baked pasta dish? Just click through to this specially produced turkey and tagliatelle recipe and combine the turkey with delicious béchamel sauce to create a hearty tummy filler. (This recipe will teach you how to make the dish, whether your turkey or chicken is already cooked or fresh.) You know how it is… you have various bits of veg sat at the bottom of the fridge just waiting to expire… well, don’t let them!
How nutritious? Plenty! If the bread in your bin is too hard to eat but not yet nasty and moldy, it’s perfect for making tasty Italian meatballs. Just read this homemade meatball recipe, buy some tinned toms and ground beef, and get to it. Then serve these meatballs with tomato sauce or pop them in this lasagna. Deeelicious. Looking for different advice on cooking leftovers? Please let me know so I can keep improving this page!
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- Crack the egg(s) into a mixing bowl
- With the hob down to medium, pack in the pasta and fry for roughly 5 or 6 mins.
Whether your veggies have already been cooked or are completely fresh, this 
