Saturday, May 15, 2010

Pesto Pasta Frittata

My huge cooking spree last weekend for the birthday party left me with a fridge full of odds and ends, and this week has been fun, coming up with inventive ways to use all that food and not waste any of it.

I made a big batch of pesto pasta salad for the party, and this morning, discovered the remnants from cooking that dish- some cooked pasta (I boiled more pasta than I ended up using for the pasta salad), a few tablespoons of pesto sauce and a lone yellow bell pepper.

Inspired by Terry B's post on Pasta Frittata, I pulled out other pantry staples like onions and eggs, and described the recipe to V, who went on to make this quick and tasty lunch on this rainy day.

Pasta Frittata for Two
  1. Cut 1 small onion and 1 bell pepper into thin strips.
  2. Heat 2 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil in a skillet, then saute the onion and pepper.
  3. Add 2 to 3 cups left-over cooked pasta (I used tricolor fusilli but any shape will do) and season the mixture with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes
  4. Fry the mixture well on medium heat so the pasta gets a little crunchy.
  5. Stir in 3 tablespoons of pesto into the pasta mixture.
  6. Beat 3 eggs with a little salt and pepper. Pat down the pasta mixture, then pour the eggs evenly on it.
  7. Cover and cook for a few minutes until the eggs are set.
  8. Upturn on a plate. Cut into wedges and serve with a shower of parmesan cheese or not. 
Such an easy way to jazz up leftover cooked pasta! This presto pesto pasta dish goes to Presto Pasta Nights, the 164th week (!) is hosted at The Well-Seasoned Cook

36 comments:

  1. Never thought of using up pasta in a frittata! I'm always stuck with tons of pasta in the fridge and usually after a few days I'm so bored, I end up trashing it :(

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  2. Ideas for leftovers are always good to hear about! Thanks! Cheers!

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  3. Making new dishes out of leftovers is one of my favorite things, too. This frittata looks delicious.

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  4. Truly a treat, when eggs are in the mix anything becomes a treat and this is no exception.

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  5. great way to use up leftover Pasta. My son will love this. Will try soon.

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  6. Love this kind of recipes .. mixing this and that and coming up with something so new and wonderful. :-)

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  7. Great use of leftover cooked pasta. I have a box of cooked pasta right now in my fridge...will try this now.

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  8. nice and delicious meal from the leftover pantry!

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  9. whats not to love about pasta masquerading in a frittata...i love this idea!

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  10. that looks scrumptious. great way of using left over pasta.

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  11. The pesto pasta frittata looks yummy.
    Whenever I make a pasta frittata, I just mix everything together at the beginning - the beaten eggs, pasta, seasonings, cheese, and then cook it all at once. It does need to be flipped, which can get a bit messy (I invert it onto a plate and then slide it back into the pan)but it's fun!
    And a very belated happy birthday to you (?)

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  12. Great way of using leftover pasta! The frittata looks delicious.

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  13. There's nothing like a frittata to turn a pasta leftover into a great breakfast/brunch/lunch.

    Thanks for sharing with Presto Pasta Nights.

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  14. Frittata and pasta -- perfect together!

    Looks very tasty indeed.

    Va bene!

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  15. Hi Nupur,
    It s been a while :-) Leftover cooking - i love those. The dishes always come out so new and great :-)

    I am being tried and tasted this month, so if you are interested, we have 12 more days to go :-)

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  16. its looking so colorful and delcious...tempting clicks...

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  17. LOL, Nupur, I had to come and see your post; this exactly what I do in our frittatas. In fact, we had pasta for dinner last night, and I added the leftovers ( not just boiled pasta, but in a sauce) to a frittata for breakfast, the kids absolutely adore it.I also add leftover noodles ;-)

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  18. Yummy recipe with wonderful click...

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  19. hey love psta frittata...complete meal in one..bright and vful dish....yum yum

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  20. The Housewife- Oh, that's too bad. Perhaps you need to cook smaller portions of pasta if you are consistently left with lots of leftovers? I usually cook less than a packet at one time, because pasta swells so much upon cooking.
    But there are lots of ways to creatively use pasta and I hope you will try this frittata.

    SS- I agree, good ways of recycling leftovers always come in handy.

    Lydia- Sometimes the recycled dish is tastier than the original too ;)

    indosungod- Yes, eggs can be very versatile.

    musical- Thanks!

    Pavani- Yes, it is very kid friendly for sure.

    Sharmila- :) yes, I love them too, leftovers force you to be creative.

    chakhlere- Let me know if you enjoy it!

    PJ- It was, a very satisfying lunch :)

    arundati- Glad you like it!

    Sayantani- Thanks!

    Kamini- That's a very quick and tasty way of doing it too. Sauteeing the pasta first makes it really crunchy at the bottom of the frittata, which I just love. Thanks for the birthday wishes!

    Rachana- Thanks!

    Priya (Yallapantula) Mitharwal- Thank you!

    Ruth Daniels- Thank you for keeping PPN going all these years, very fun event!

    Mister Meatball- Thanks

    zlamushka- I'll try my best to participate!

    Life is beautiful!!!- Thanks!

    Sanyukta Gour(Bayes)- Thanks!

    sunita- That's great, I am sure your kids love the "mystery" frittata with yummy noodles hiding inside.

    Priti- Thanks!

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  21. THAT looks amazing and I really want to give this one a vegan spin! I would have to coax a new binder from the pantry--what I'd use I am not sure yet, maybe something with flax seed and some silken tofu. Regardless, this totally looks yummy!

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  22. An ideal recipe for dealing with leftovers. We eat pasta so much here that we always have more cooked than we need, no matter how careful I measure for two diners.

    Looks wonderful. I'm a long-time fan of frittatas.

    Thanks for sharing this for PPN, Nupur!

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  23. Your contact form is not working, it prompts that the code is wrong again n again !!
    so sending it to u thru the comment form.



    Hi Nupur,

    I was googling for a recipe and came across this blog, seems like she has copied ur pic of zunka n not linked back to you.
    here is the link http://dhanashrees-recipes.blogspot.com/2009/01/zunka.html


    Regards,
    Mayuri.

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  24. This sounds yummy! The last time I had left over pasta (too much pasta not enough tomato sauce)- I ended up panicking and making a quick pesto (just ground up basil with olive oill- no nuts nothing) as I find that 'unsauced pasta' in the fridge ends up becoming really dry and unuseable. How do you store cooked pasta? In some water?

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  25. Kelly- Thanks :)

    notyet100- Take a bite!

    Susan- Me too, they are such a great vehicle for any and all leftovers!

    Mayuri- Thank you, that's very observant of you. Yes, that blogger has stolen my picture, have left her a comment asking her to remove it and stop stealing.

    Lavanya- I just store it in a sealed container, no extra water or anything. Once you fry it in this frittata for instance, it will be edible again!

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  26. Thanks for the shout out, Nupur! Your version looks and sounds delicious. I'm a sucker for pesto in anything.

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  27. oh this is fantastic!! what a way to use up leftovers! you've given me something to work on!

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  28. I saw Sara Moulton make a pasta frittata a long time ago when we used to have cable. But I think she used linguini instead. Can't remember her recipe but yours look delicious. There's nothing better for a lazy cook like me than a one pot meal, especially if takes care of leftovers. :)

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  29. Terry B- I know, pesto makes everything better! Thanks so much for sharing your tasty recipe, I'll be making this often.

    Rajani- Glad you like it.

    Jaya Wagle- You could definitely make this with just about any shape (long or short) of cooked pasta. Yes, a tasty quick one pot meal!

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  30. I have all those same left-overs staring at me from my fridge shelves. Pasta with pesto, extra pesto, half an orange bell pepper, and all the right staples. Perfect idea to use them up. Never would have thought of putting pasta in a frittata.

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  31. Mmm, mmmm, mmmmmmm!!!

    Sometimes we make extra spaghettini with red peppers JUST so we can make omelettes with the leftovers. Now we'll have to do the same with pesto pasta.

    -Elizabeth

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  32. Wow, havent used eggs with Pasta. Would definitely try this week. Thanks for the lovely recipe.

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