Tag: leftovers

Easy Pesto Pasta

I had every intention of getting a couple posts up this week, and I even had them all written! All I had to do was click publish. But then I got incredibly sick on Sunday night… and it lasted until this morning. AND I had a physics exam on Thursday. So obviously no posts made it up. But I still really wanted to share this easy pasta recipe, so here it is 🙂

Now that it’s warming up, I am SO excited to eat pesto all the time. I love pesto. And while it’s super easy to make, I am incredibly bad at keeping fresh herbs alive. Maybe this will be the summer I finally try to do it? But for now we’re sticking to the jarred stuff.

Thankfully, ALDI has really delicious jarred pesto, so I picked some up on my most recent grocery run. And I think last week I made pesto pasta 3 times. Excessive? Perhaps, but it’s delicious and it couldn’t be easier. I did a couple different variations throughout the week, but today I’m sharing the simplest version. Feel free to doctor it up as you see fit! Add whatever vegetables you have on hand (give em a quick sauté first, I love bell peppers, mushrooms, or zucchini), meat like chicken or sausage, or as much parmesan or mozzarella cheese as you see fit.

Also, I’m gonna be quite honest with you, I made this dish in the microwave because I had gotten home from night class and really didn’t feel like cooking. So absolutely no shame if you do the same 🙂

Easy Pesto Pasta

Serves: 1

Cook time: 5 minutes

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup of pasta, cooked (I had leftover from earlier in the week)
  • 1/2-3/4 cup grape tomatoes, quartered
  • 1-2 tablespoons pesto
  • Salt
  • Pepper

Instructions

  1. In a pan over medium low heat, toss the pasta and pesto and heat until warmed through.
  2. Alternatively: in a microwave safe bowl, add the pasta and the pesto and microwave until hot, about 1 minute.
  3. Add the quartered tomatoes, season with salt and pepper, and enjoy!

Pulled Pork Pasta

I very loosely consider myself the queen of leftovers. I really enjoying having a bit of a “Chopped” competition with myself to see what I can come up with based on the leftovers in the fridge.

Last week I had about two servings of pulled pork left in the freezer, onions and garlic, and leftover pasta and crushed tomatoes (from my tuna and asparagus pasta). So I worked with what I had and made the BEST pasta sauce I’ve made in awhile. There’s not much more to say other than that haha so here it is, my pulled pork pasta sauce:

Pulled Pork Pasta

Cook time: 25 minutes

Serves: 2

Ingredients

  • 2 servings of pulled pork (make sure you have some grease)
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1/3 large can of crushed tomatoes
  • Red pepper flakes
  • Basil
  • About 8 ounces of pasta, cooked
  • Cheese, shredded (mozzarella, parmesan, etc.)

Instructions

  1. In about 2 tablespoons of grease from the pulled pork, sauté the onions and garlic on medium heat, seasoning with salt and pepper, until translucent about 7 minutes.
  2. Add the pulled pork and cook for about 7 minutes until warmed through.
  3. Add the tomatoes and season with red pepper flakes and basil to taste, and cook for about 10 minutes until steaming and thick.
  4. Add the pasta to the pan and cook until pasta is warmed through and everything has combined (get those flavors melding!)
  5. Top with cheese and serve!
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