That night, we ate all the spaghetti, but sauce and meat still remained. The following day (yesterday), I had a pizza mystery shop which provided us with one large pizza. That doesn't go far with a family of 5, but it will feed three kids just fine when only one is a teenager. So, I decided to let the kids have the pizza and do something with my leftovers. And another leftover leftovers meal was born.
I cooked about half a box of penne pasta and drained it. I dumped in the sauce and "meatballs" and stirred it up. Then I mixed in a big scoop of cottage cheese and some Italian Blend shredded cheese. I poured this into a glass casserole dish and sprinkled on some more of the shredded cheese, then popped it into a 350° oven for about 30 minutes until the cheese was nice and bubbly.
It was SUCH a good dinner! It was sort of like lasagna, but the penne pasta gave it a completely different feel. It was fantastic! I had just enough left for lunch today. :-) I just love it when I can make yet another new meal from the first new leftovers dinner! The meatloaf in question that made three dinners (2 for 5 and 1 for 3 since the aforementioned teenager had some, too) cost me $4.95 to make. Can't beat that!!!
Lovin' Leftovers,
I love this! It is so much easier eating up something when it's in a different form than it's initial appearance.
ReplyDeleteOne of our new favorites for leftover meatballs and sauce is meatball sandwiches. Logically, bread instead of pasta isn't that much different but texturally they're quite unique. And toasting up some buns with some garlic butter, then adding meatballs and sauce and a slice of mozarella, then broiling to melt, make a whole new meal in our heads.
I've made something like this, both with leftovers and with first time around ingredients. You're right that it tastes like lasagna, only SO much easier. :)
ReplyDeleteI also have the same meatball and meatloaf recipe. One thing you can do with the leftovers of either is chop them up and use them top top homemade pizzas OR fill calzones. Yum :) Your "baked ziti" idea sounds delicious.
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