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FOR ALL MY years of cooking pasta, I still seem incapable of getting the measurements right – always having too little or (more often than not) way too much.
Life is just too short to spend time measuring out pasta. But while you might think there’s little that can be done to salvage that leftover spaghetti or penne, we beg to differ.
Reheated pasta can lose its bite and firm texture, so as soon as you realise you’ve made too much, run it under cold water, drain thoroughly and store in a ziplock bag in the fridge. There are plenty of ways to liven up any type of leftover pasta- check out our favourites below.
Bacon and leek pasta bake: A pasta bake is a simple and tasty recipe to have on hand when you want a fuss-free midweek meal. To start, make a basic white sauce, stir in your favourite cheese, then add fried bacon and leeks. Stir in your leftover pasta, top with some grated cheese and bake for 20 minutes in a hot oven. This is unbelievably quick to put together and delicious served alongside a salad of rocket and tomatoes.
Frittata: This is what many Italians do with their leftover pasta, so it’s guaranteed to be a good one! For the base, you just need 4 eggs, pasta and parmesan. From here, anything you have in the fridge could be added – peppers, sweetcorn or courgette for starters. Cook the frittata by mixing all of the ingredients together and frying in a pan, finishing it off with five minutes in a hot oven, or until the eggs have set. Serve hot from the oven or at room temperature for lunch the next day.
Pasta salad: Now that we’re fast approaching that time of year again, it’s time to start thinking about school lunches – and this recipe makes for a great alternative to a sandwich. A favourite in my house is a chicken Caesar pasta salad which can be made in less than ten minutes. Simply slice up a cooked chicken breast and serve on a bed of cos lettuce leaves, cherry tomatoes and pasta, with Caesar dressing on the side. A little shaved parmesan will add that extra cheesy zing.
Minestrone soup: I adore minestrone soup, and only realised recently how easy it is to make. Start off by frying chopped onion, garlic, celery and finely diced carrots in a pot. Add a tin of chopped tomatoes, 300mls of chicken stock and simmer until the vegetables are soft. Stir in some cooked pasta at the end and add a dollop of pesto. Disclaimer: this is my take on a minestrone and may not be entirely authentic, but it is entirely delicious!
Stir fry: Why not turn last night’s Italian leftovers into tonight’s Chinese! To make, heat some oil in a pan to a high heat, and add some crushed garlic, ginger and chilli. Add some shaved carrot, leftover spaghetti and toss until the mixture is thoroughly heated and well combined. Add a dash of soy sauce and serve alongside some fish or a sliced chicken breast.
Are you thrifty with your pasta leftovers? Let us know your favourite recipes in the comments below.
I’d be more concerned about Leo stating his continued support for Dara Murphy who “is doing as great job” yet he spent 24 days in the Dail in one year and still gets full pay with 4300 euro monthly allowances..The scale of this arrogance in full view of the country is frightening.
It seems we must all accept when electing those to run the country we have a lot of shortcomings. It seems we are clueless. Electing these type of candidates may well seem great for our local area but it’s purely disastrous on a national level.
@Mjhint: clueless is quite kind . How FG even drums up support given the current situation with the country and the corruption amongst themselves leaves me completely perplexed . No lessons learned and you get the same same old .
Verona Murphy as far as I know was never involved in politics or community groups. I am always sceptical of people who are just handpicked by the Party because they have a high profile in another area which is Haulage in her case. My opinion is that she is only learning and would have been better starting at County Council level . Her inexperience is obvious as she keeps putting her foot in it and blaming everyone else. In other words she lost the run of herself by all the attention she received.
@Aine O Connor:
Standard practice really Aine if you ask me. Most of the moon pigs in FG have feck all experience as politicians either. It’s inheritance politics in Ireland. Enda Kenny was a school teacher ffs. Law makers, Health care professionals and Business savvy people with integrity and the people’s interest is what’s needed for a decent government. Ireland is light years from that unfortunately.
@Nollaig Elliot: WOW. The kids in that school. were very lucky that Kenny got elected.They must be blessing themselves every day.
@Nollaig Elliot: Varadkar is a health care professional. As was the minister for health before him. Both did/are doing a god awful job. Qualifications are a small part of the requirements needed to do the job of a politician. Actually caring about people and the country is the most important attribute. That is not Learned!
@Aine O Connor: Yes, vester interests. The haulage sector just want someone on the inside to push their agenda.
@Fr. Fintan Stack: vested
@Fred Coloe: ye you can have all the qualifications in the world but if you are a sociopathic money hungry hand puppet it’s not much use to us.
@Fred Coloe: qualifications are very important – however they are sod all use if you have no interest in doing the job in the first place.
@Fr. Fintan Stack: “INVESTED”
@James Keogh: or even INFESTED
@Nollaig Elliot: why the ffs? Just cos he qualified as a teacher doesn’t mean he has to spend the rest of his life as one. He was a life time in politics
FFG are a total joke ….
@Willy Mc Bride: I hope she wins the seat just to pi$$ you off.
@Chin Feeyin: No wonder the country is a complete and utter mess with an attitude like that.
@Chin Feeyin: True Blue …..
@Willy Mc Bride: of course, everyone who disagrees has to be True Blur. Of course.
@Willy Mc Bride: looks like the Shinner is doing well in Dublin Mid-West.
God help us all.
@Chin Feeyin: where’s your pon pons today chin
@David Corrigan: you seeem to have amnesia, who got us into trouble in 2008 FFand Greens, whoI got us out of trouble E Kenny & co you have a short memory , selective too
She really is channeling her inner Trump. Racist comments, a history of allegations of bullying, representative of a gas-guzzling industry. Now the Rocky comparisons
@Anne Marie Devlin: as we speak, dozens of graphic designers have just had a crack at photoshopping her head onto Rocky’s body, and simultaneously lost their breakfasts…
@Anne Marie Devlin: yes and what makes it even more galling is that people like her, Trump and Farage paint themselves as if they are somehow the victim and antiestablishment when they couldn’t be more establishment .
@Anne Marie Devlin: How could anyone with any kind of backbone allow such a weak minded mess of a person bully them is beyond me.
@jamesdecay:
No.
That was the Rocky head on her body!
@Michael Kavanagh: ha ha splendid!
@Anne Marie Devlin: Without the “gas guzzlers” you and the rest of us would starve to death. Food and everything else that humans need/want has to be delivered to shops etc. !!
A distinct smell of desperation around fg these days
Embarrassed for the video production team and all the Blueshirts patsies involved.
@The Irish Bull: you spelled pasties wrong.
Video looks like it was.put together by a 12 year old. Actually, scrap that, it was put together by a 53 year old with their first video editor!
Video unavailable
Wonder did they/she have permission to use the song?
Is she the best Wexford has to offer ??
@Declan O Toole: Mick Wallace, living in the love of the common people?
I must visit Wexford – curiosity is getting the better of me.
@Etherman: Ya it really sounds like a place worth visiting, for the politicians alone.
@Declan O Toole:
Wexford is known as the Model County because of its rich farming land, bounded on one side by the Blackstairs Mountains and on the other side by the Irish Sea with numerous sandy beaches. It is sixty miles long . Rich in Heritage , invaded by the Vikings and the Normans in the past the landscape boasts many magnificent Castles like Johnstown Castle , Abbeys like Tintern Abbey with adjacent Colclough Walled Gardens , the Hook Lighthouse, The Haunted Loftus Hall , Dunbrody Famine Ship and JF Kennedy Memorial Park. Also Vinegar Hill in Enniscorthy where the Battle of 1798 was fought to mention just a few . The County has always been a very popular holiday destination for Dublin people in particular.
@Aine O Connor: Ah yeah, but it’s no Bally b by the sea.
@Aine O Connor: Thanks Aine.
@Aine O Connor: Thanks Aine, ya the beaches like Curracloe very nice indeed.
“character assassination” kinda sounds a lot like “fake news” uttered another right wing racist bigot we all know. It’s as simple as this, you like with dogs, you get get fleas. She repeatedly made vile discussing comments based on fear mongering and propaganda from the far right, she deserved everything she got.
@Yermas House: sorry, that should have been “lie down with dogs”. Bloody autocorrect!
@Yermas House: my 2 dogs don’t have fleas! In 10 years only had one tick , it’s how you care for them, meanwhile back to Irish politics….bit like Monty Python and Fr.Ted of a mixture usually….
@Yermas House: What’s wrong with liking dogs…?
@Gus Sheridan: I would just like to apologise for my earlier comments regarding dogs. I never in anyway meant to offend, or hurt any dog lovers out there, in fact I even know and am good friends with one of them.
I also do party agree with you or our Irish politics, except rather than a mixed breed of Monty Python and Fr.Ted, I reckon they’re more of a inbred self serving lot myself.
Are we racist yet Ted?
Favourite to get in. Seems the people like the truth instead of faux outrage. The video wouldn’t have helped her though. It’s the kind of quality you’d get from an RTÉ video editor.
The thing I don’t get is what does Leo think when he goes home at night. He’s a doctor so he must be clever. Surely he must know how terrible a job him and his gimps are doing. The man living on Jupiter knows, anyone with half a brain would not believe his government is doing good. If I was making a balls of my work that badly, I wouldn’t wait for the tap, I’d just walk myself. I’d be mortified to hang around if I was that shit at work. I wonder does he ever feel like just walking?
@Nollaig Elliot: HE will never walk. To be like his kind you need to have no morals or integrity. The Irish political system attracts the worst kind of people from our society. There is no place in that system for honest hardworking people. It is as simple and as black and white as that Nollaig.
@David Corrigan: so A) are you saying there’s no honest or hardworking politicians in Ireland? and B) only in Ireland is this the case?
The journal really need to pull their comments section if this is the standard
Massive copyright infringement right there. $$$$$
Surprise, Surprise, Video not available. Solo runs only annoy people and make a nonsense of Party cohesion. Hope the his Tiger loses her stripes and her Parachute. Hope YATES backed her,
and lost all his Shirts
What’s the lorry aul one on about now?
Go on Pip Breen
Surprise, Surprise, Video not available. Solo runs only annoy people and make a nonsense of Party cohesion. Hope the Tiger loses her stripes and her Parachute. Hope YATES backed her,
and lost all his Shirts
Dope !!
Da Meeja certainly didn’t spare her or wanted to see another point of view.
Da Meeks certainly didn’t spare her or wanted to see another point of view.
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