I don't know where the week went, but it's almost time for this week's
Presto Pasta Night Roundup. And, believe it or not...I'm sharing leftovers. No - wait...it's worth the visit here, honestly!
My mother was a great cook and everyone loved coming over to our house - relatives, friends, even friends of friends. So my mother always cooked tons of food - especially once we were teenagers. Teen age boys, especially after an afternoon playing football or hockey????!!! Seriously! And frankly, I could out eat them all.
Once I moved out and my mom got too sick to cook, I took over her title. And like it was at her home, mine became Eating Central for friends and family. Like my mother, I was always ready for the hordes and, like her, I find it hard to cook for only 2 or even for 4. The girls have long ago moved into their own places and most of the time I'm really just cooking for my Honey and me. My father used to say that both my mother and I must have learned to cook in the army and could easily feed a battalion any night of the week.
So now to the real post....another reason to love pasta. More than any other dish, it can be dressed differently so "left overs" are not typical - throw in the microwave reruns. Last week I made some
Winter Herb Pasta...tasty, but tons left over. What was I thinking? Anyway I thought I'd use the leftovers for a frittata, which would have been tasty, they usually are. Plus all the herbs and garlic in the original dish would mean I probably wouldn't even have to add anything but eggs and perhaps sprinkle some Parmesan cheese on top.
But the weather turned dramatically wintery and I've been chilled to the bone ever since. I needed some creamy comfort food and ...well the pasta just screamed from the fridge..."ME, ME, ME!!!" So I got out a saucepan, heated a tbsp of butter, threw in the pasta, some left over mascarpone cheese, some torn bocconcini and some cream and simmered it until the cheeses were all melty....a little salt and pepper and some baby spinach that wilted in a jiffy - pure Heaven!
Today is more of the same cold weather and actually I did just heat up the creamy mac 'n cheese version but I added a heaping spoonful of Kozlik's Horseradish mustard that my angel, Sharron bought in Toronto and sent home with my other angel, Joanna. (What can I say, it's very hard to find here in Halifax!) That hit of mustard gave it a completely different flavor.
So how do you dress up your left over pastas...or do you just start a new dish every time?
Don't forget to join in the
fun for next week and please visit the
Presto Pasta Gang on Facebook.
Related Links:
Food and Drink easy cooking recipes pasta Food Blogging Event Presto Pasta Night
(good thing I never remember endings...this one still surprised me). And lunch...burgers, but homemade turkey burgers made with my favorite spicy Kozlik's Horseradish mustard and lots of parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme. Naturally I couldn't help but name them....
