Tag: leftovers

Panzanella and Pasta Ricotta

Leftovers/ Freezer Meals, Pasta, Salads

Summer tomatoes are amazing, but if you have some in a garden, you may need a few ideas on how to tame your over populated supply. How about Panzanella? Using some leftover bread, I combined some chopped fresh tomato with mozzarella and fresh garden basil. First, toast your bread.
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Then, add the rest of the ingredients.
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My husband had 2 helpings. It is basically the salad form of bruschetta.

Ricotta; a house divided…My husband HATES ricotta. I LOVE IT. Love always beats out hate in the kitchen. I made Ricotta pasta. He ate some leftover lasagna I had in the freezer.

Ricotta pasta is just Rigatoni with ricotta and my leftover meaty marinara sauce from the other night. You could totally make this into a baked ziti. You could add shredded mozzarella to the top and bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes until the cheese gets all melty. 008012

 

Leftovers: Wonton Risotto

Appetizers and snacks, Leftovers/ Freezer Meals, Side dishes...veggies, potatoes, grains

I bought some wonton wrappers hoping to try out some homemade cheese sticks. Those will wait another day, because I made some wonton risotto. Not sure if anyone has made this before. I will just be honest and say the idea came to me when I was driving home from the hospital and dreaming of aranchini, which is an Italian fried rice ball. It was raining and gross outside, so instead of stopping at an out of the way Italian place that has amazing ones (Figo at Perimeter), I was kind of thinking of a way to recreate them. Once I got home and remembered I had wonton wrappers, I decided to try it out.
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I heated up my Dutch Pan with an inch or so of vegetable oil. Then I put a spoonful of my leftover mushroom risotto and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese in a wonton wrapper and folded it over. I placed these in the heated oil for a minute or so until I saw the bottom turn brown. Then I flipped them.

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Delish. They were more for me than the girls. R ate 2 of them, mostly picking out the mushrooms and “crusty edges” of the dough. Then I warmed up the rest of the Pasta Pizza leftovers I made a few nights ago.

Just to recap the last few days, in case you thought I was starving myself or my family… we had Jimmy John’s sandwiches for lunch on Wednesday (always yum), My 2 younger girls got spoiled with McDonalds and Zaxby’s with their grandparents Wed night and Thursday lunch. As for me…adequate grilled chicken sandwich from the hospital and pretzel hotdog rolls at Dave and Buster’s on a hospital outing to celebrate my kiddo’s breakout of the hospital clinker tomorrow…

WOOHOO!!!!

White Wine Mushroom Risotto; plus an idea for kids and leftovers

Breakfast and Brunch, Eggs, Leftovers/ Freezer Meals, Side dishes...veggies, potatoes, grains

Wine, mushrooms, and rice…oh, and I added bacon. You are welcome!

I haven’t made risotto in a really long time. I sometimes fall into that Atkins thinking and really want to just eat tons of protein. That lasts maybe one meal, at most, one day, then I fall off the “No Carb!” bandwagon. Julia Child once said, “Everything in moderation, even moderation.” I think she was referring to this mindset. Or maybe it was moderation of butter, or pies, or wine…well, whatever the reason, I find it to be a most excellent motto. One to live by, for sure.

So the other day, I was watching Ina Garten, aka The Barefoot Contessa, and she was making a white wine risotto. She was using some crazy expensive ingredients; dried porcini mushrooms, locally sourced pancetta, saffron, what looked to be a very expensive bottle of wine she got from a friend who owns a specialty wine shop, and I think she might have even shaved some truffles on top (that may or not be an exaggeration; I can’t remember). Well, that got me to thinking, “I can make that without spending $50 dollars on my meal.” So here is my cheap version of her decked out classic.

Start by warming a quart of chicken stock. You could make your own, and I sometimes do, but you can also use stock from a box. I like to buy low sodium. Control your salt intake when you can.

Take a large Dutch Oven. This is my prized possession in the kitchen. I love my cast iron pans, but I covet my Le Creust. We got it on sale, I think, because it is a hideous pea green. I have grown found of it so much. Heat it up and add 1 stick of butter. Once it is melted add 1/2 of and onion (Vidalia for me) and 3 pieces of bacon chopped up. 003

Then add 1 pint of mushrooms. I added baby portabellas, but cute little button mushrooms would work just fine. Whatever is on sale, people! You can buy sliced, or you could save yourself fifty cents or more and just slice them yourselves. No judgment here! Cook down for about 5 minutes. Add about a teaspoon of salt and pepper.

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Add 2 cups of Arborio rice. Arborio has the perfect starchiness for Risotto. Stir rice until coated with butter. Add about 1/2 a bottle of dry white wine. My favorites are Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc. When cooking, always choose a wine you want to drink. My bottle was Pinot Grigio, and it cost about $10.

Once it cooks a bit, add your warmed chicken stock a little bit of a time. Your risotto needs love. Keep by its side; stir it often; whisper sweet nothings in its ear. “Who is my sweet risotto? You are! You are so pretty! I just love you so much!” Kiss it and give it some nibbles…Taste it here and there to see if it is al dente and seasoned right (add salt and pepper when needed). When it is, add 2/3 grated parmesan cheese and a couple of splashes of heavy cream. Stir until coated and take off the heat. 007

My bowl of just risotto. 010

Wondering if the kids are going to like this…well, R loves mushrooms, and K loves rice. Both my kids love runny eggs. Add a side of sunny side up eggs, and we have a meal! The richness of the yolk adds amazing depth to the risotto. R even asked if we could have this for breakfast. Why, yes, yes we can!
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Leftovers: Pizza Pasta

Leftovers/ Freezer Meals, One pot meal, Pasta

Leftovers…this can be a dreaded word in many houses. No one likes to keep eating the same thing 2 days in a row, but no one wants to waste food, which is just throwing money away. In our house, we try to have at least one night where we have “whatever you want night.” This is when we try to eat up any leftovers in the fridge before they go bad. Since we are kind of on a weird eating schedule with E still in the hospital, this has been harder to do. I am here with the other 2 girls most nights, so I try to make just enough for the 3 of us, meals that I can transform in to more than 1 meal, or make meals I know will freeze well for later.

Last night I made linguine and meatballs, and I froze some sauce, but I still had a bit of pasta over for us to have one more meal. Then, today, I was watching David Rocco’s Dolce Vida on Cooking Channel. He was making a “pizza pasta.” He took leftover pasta and added some eggs, parmesan cheese, and fried it in oil. So I decided to try it.

The ingredients all depends on how many leftovers you have, but I used 3 eggs, 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, whipped it together with the pasta, then added to a pan of oil which covers the bottom of your pan.
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Then after 2 minutes or so, put a plate upside down on the top of the pasta. Turn the pan and plate over and then slide the pasta pie mixture back in the pan for another 2 minutes on the other side. Tricky, but doable. Who cares if it doesn’t come out perfect? Once done, I added more parmesan on top.
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Then I sliced with a pizza cutter. It was sitting out for a bit, so I popped a piece in the toaster oven to crisp it on top a bit. Perfection! The girls gobbled it up as well!
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Any new ways you like to makeover leftover pasta?

Sunny-side Up Leftovers

Asian, Eggs, Leftovers/ Freezer Meals

My girls LOVE runny eggs, sunny-side up is their favorite. So when I was trying to sell the leftover Chinese food we had in the fridge, I knew I had to top it with these beautiful eggs. B is an egg drop soup fanatic, so when I topped her beloved soup with an extra egg, she thought she had hit the jackpot. For my dinner, I defrosted some homemade chicken stock, added lo mien noodles, broccoli, and chicken. Of course, I love runny eggs as much, if not more than the girls, so I topped my faux pho with an egg as well. For K, my 4 year-old?  Well, she is going through a bit of a phase where she doesn’t want her food to be combined. So her chicken, rice, and egg were all on her plate, but not combined. It was still pretty, but before I could snap a pic, she had already almost finished her entire egg.

For a perfect sunny-side up egg…heat your pan to med. heat Melt a pat of butter and crack the egg. Once you see the egg start setting, take some melted butter and put on top of the whites. Delish. If you don’t want to add butter, use a non-stick cooking spray, and once the egg white is almost cooked, take it off the burner and cover with a lid for just a few seconds. This will cook the egg without cooking the yolk. Don’t leave the lid on too long!

Tip: Invest in farm fresh eggs;  they are so worth the extra money. In the summer months, the chickens eat the bugs in the soil, and this diet makes the eggs taste extra rich and earthy. Even if you just buy them when you are making the eggs the star in a dish, you will thank me!

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