3/9/07 | Leftovers: Baked Pasta
[ Currently Eating: Chicken Mushroom Omlette ]
Happy Friday. One of my favorite things to do with leftover tomato based pasta or spaghetti is to make a baked pasta casserole out of it. Pretty simple, just take your leftovers and warm them up slightly. You can add stuff to it if you want, like mushrooms, onions, carrots, meats etc… but it works best if those items are already cooked. The reason is so you don’t have to bake it as long. You could bake it longer, but since the pasta is already cooked it can get a bit mushy.
Then you just dump the whole thing into an ovenproof casserole, layer some type of cheese on top (I used mozzarella here). Pop it in the oven at like 350 degrees. I like to cover it w/ aluminum foil, until you’re almost ready to take it out. That way the cheese browns nicely but doesn’t completely burn. You can also put it under the broiler to get the cheese nice and bubbly very quickly.
I’m not sure how long I baked this one. It can’t be longer than 20-25 minutes though. Yummy, cheesey goodness.
March 10th, 2007 at 11:38 pm
There’s an Asian-Italian fusion place down the street from me and they do a lot of casserole type of dishes. If only I could make a decent pasta, then perhaps I can do this, because it looks really good.
March 12th, 2007 at 2:47 am
Cheesey goodness indeed! I’ve never thought to use leftover pasta as baked pasta the next day, although I prepare baked pasta as a first day dish..doh!
I’m going to stare at the cheesy baked potato again for awhile
March 12th, 2007 at 6:38 pm
That looks pretty good, I’ll have to give it a try. Normally I don’t reheat leftover pasta, as I love cold leftover spaghetti, mostaccioli and lasagna, as do several members of my family.
March 15th, 2007 at 7:17 am
marvo - Oh yeah, I dig the japanese spaghetti places too. I haven’t been to one in awhile but those are pretty excellent. Hey you could do it, just dump a can of chefboyardee in a pan and put cheese in it…
skibs - it makes a good baked pasta, except if you have it refrigerated you might want to let it come to room temp first, because if you have to cook it too long the pasta overcooks.
gregg - I like cold leftover pasta too, along with cold fried chicken. Well, as long as it’s not ice-cold…