Leftover Pasta Frittata

Here is the permission you need to serve your kids spaghetti for any meal and feel great about it because you are using your leftovers. This mash-up of pasta and frittata combines some favorite comfort foods for a rich, cheesy, inexpensive pantry meal. The variations are endless too.

Recipe courtesy of Leite’s Culinaria.

Ingredients

• 6 large eggs
• 1/4 c. grated Parmesan or pecorino cheese
• 2 T. olive oil plus oil or butter for the skillet
• 1/8 t. salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 4 oz. cold leftover spaghetti, sauced or un-sauced

Instructions

1. Crack the eggs into a bowl and whisk very well. Mix in the cheese, oil, salt and a grind of pepper.

2. If you have sauced spaghetti, dump it in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat along with a couple tablespoons water and heat until it’s warm but before it starts to sizzle. Drain off any water that hasn’t evaporated and turn the spaghetti into the egg mixture. Wipe out the skillet, return it to medium-low heat and add enough oil or butter to slick the bottom and sides of the skillet. Add the egg mixture, distributing the spaghetti evenly if it clumps. If you have plain, un-sauced spaghetti, heat a couple tablespoons oil or butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium or medium-high heat. Add the spaghetti. Let it get crisp and browned on the bottom, pressing down once or twice on the spaghetti with a spatula. Reduce the heat to medium-low and add the egg mixture.

3. Turn the heat to low and occasionally rotate the skillet a quarter turn if the egg seems to be cooking unevenly around the edges. When the perimeter of the frittata looks set and the center is still somewhat liquid, which should be after about 8 minutes, run a table knife around the skillet to loosen the sides of the frittata and carefully slip a thin metal spatula under it to loosen the underside. Invert a plate over the skillet and place one hand over the plate and the other hand on the skillet handle. Here comes the exciting part—you’re going to flip the frittata onto the plate. Set the plate down and quickly slick the skillet with a little more oil or butter. Then, with the help of the spatula, encourage the frittata to slide back into the skillet. Don’t worry if things are looking a little Humpty Dumpty—just fit it all back together again and keep it over low heat until it’s cooked through, about 7 more minutes.

4. When the frittata seems to be cooked through, make a crack in the middle with the tip of the spatula and sneak a peek to see that the egg is all set. When it’s ready, slide or flip the frittata onto a plate. The good news is that there are a couple sides to every frittata—so if you like the looks of the top side, slide the frittata out the way you slid it in. If you like the looks of the other side better, flip it out onto a clean plate and show that one. Let cool a little or a lot, slice in wedges or squares or long skinny strips and serve. (A frittata tastes good hot, better after it has cooled a half-hour or so and possibly best after it has had a chance to regroup on the countertop for an afternoon.)