After the long lunches and the interminable festive dinners you are overwhelmed by leftovers and just don't want to go back to the same things for days and days? Here is the solution!
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves himAfter i long lunches and endless festive dinners you are overwhelmed by leftovers and to go back on the same things for days and days just don't feel like it? Here is the solution!
Rule number one: once the meal is over, before the last game of cards or the umpteenth bingo with relatives and friends ends, start prepare packets with some small portions of what was not consumed during lunch or dinner and "give them" to each guest before they leave your home. If someone tries to resist, go ahead and say "so you will have lunch ready for tomorrow!": You will see that your guests, when faced with the possibility of having to go back to the stove, will be immediately convinced and will very gladly take your package of leftovers.
Rule number two: recycle directly in the kitchen offering new dishes!
What you have not been able to "give" to relatives and friends, you can reuse it in the kitchen creating new dishes to spoil during normal days, after Christmas, after New Year's Eve or lunch on January XNUMXst and even after Epiphany, depending on how much you have cooked and the perishable nature of the raw materials.
IMPORTANT!Remember that foods, once cooked, if well covered and stored in the fridge, they can last 3-4 days from the moment you bought them.
Let's take some examples ...
Cannelloni, lasagna or spaghetti? Pasta pie with the leftovers of the first courses!
With the excuse of having a double taste of first courses, or even a triptych, is there a mountain of pasta left over that no one has had the courage to eat anymore?
No fear! Take all the leftovers: from lasagna to rigatoni, from potato gnocchi to sedanini, from tortellini to agnolotti, from spaghetti to fettuccine. Whether they are seasoned with meat or fish, make everything into small pieces of equal size and combine them in a large bowl adding a little nutmeg, a pinch of Chili pepper, a handful of grated Parmesan cheese and two / three whole eggs (depending on the amount of pasta). Mix everything and when you have obtained a mixture homogeneous, pour it into a well oiled pan and coated with breadcrumbs.
Put it in the oven preheated to 180 degrees and do cook for about 20 minutes, or until you see a nice crust on the surface.
Il Pie Dough it should be served hot, but not hot!
Second course: recycling is served!
If during the holidays you have cooked meat dishes, such as roast, turkey, meat in broth or capon, we can transform them respectively into a Meatloaf, a plate of meat with sauce, a mayonnaise salad or a nice ragù ready to be reused.
But let's go in order and start from'roast, which will surely be more stringy than a wooden board after cooking, eating and then storing it in the fridge. Here's how to get it back!Cut it into slices, put it in the blender and make a homogeneous pulp. In the meantime, put some bread to soak in a bowl full of milk, leave it for a few minutes and then squeeze it vigorously with your hands. Add the breadcrumbs to the minced meat, put two eggs, a spoonful of cheese Grated Pecorino, a pinch of nutmeg and two tablespoons of oil. Mix everything well, make a meatloaf (or alternatively many small meatballs) and dip it in the breadcrumbs.
Put everything on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper and when the oven reaches the temperature of 180 degrees, bake and cook for about half an hour.
If, on the other hand, the turkey, once cooled, you can make it in many small pieces and put them in a bowl adding mayonnaise, lettuce and a pinch of salt. Mix well and season with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar: yours turkey salad ready!
For you who have a cauldron full of unused broth meat, the solution is to pass it back in the sauce. Chop the carrots, celery and onion, pour in the tomato pulp and cook for about twenty minutes, add a pinch of red pepper and then pour in the remaining meat. Let it boil for another twenty minutes and you will have one meat in sauce soft and tasty!
If, on the other hand, you have cooked the capon, you can turn it into a nice ragù. Chop the carrots, celery and onion, blend it with wine (white or red depending on your habits). In the meantime, chop the pieces of meat in a blender and when they are well chopped, pour them into the pot on the stove, leave to flavor for a few minutes and then add the tomato pulp. Cook for about half an hour and yours ragout will be ready!
For those who have leftover fish, whether they are sea bream or trout, swordfish or salmon, shrimp or squid, put everything in the blender and mix until you get a homogeneous mixture.
Put it in a bowl by adding black olives, capers, two eggs, bread crumbs soaked in water (and then squeezed vigorously with your hands) and orange peel, mixed again with a wooden spoon and form a mega meatloaf. Dip it in the breadcrumbs and place it on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, cover it with sliced potatoes and bake for about 40-45 minutes.
Yours fish meatloaf in potato crust it's ready!
Side dish or appetizer? The important thing is that it is recycled!
Lentil flan and salad
If in the kitchen, after the party, there are kilos of leftover lentils and lettuce salad bowls, we propose you to make one vegetarian flan, ideal for all occasions, to be served as an aperitif or appetizer, as a snack between one game and another or as a simple side dish.
Here's how it is prepared:
Take the leftover salad and brown it in a pan with a little onion and oil, add the leftover lentils (therefore already cooked naturally) and cook them together with the vegetables for a few minutes, add a pinch of salt and one of pepper. Remove from heat and pour the mixture into a large bowl, add two eggs, one hundred grams of ricotta cheese and a handful of grated parmesan; mix everything and pour it into a well oiled pan lined with breadcrumbs. Bake at a large temperature of 180 and cook for half an hour.
Serve it hot or warm according to your taste, but don't bring it to the table immediately after taking it out of the oven!
Artichoke soufflé
Your mother-in-law left you an annual supply of overcooked artichokes? Continue his work and turn them into a cake!
Put the artichokes in a blender, if necessary add a little oil and some aromatic herbs to taste, until you get a cream. Pour it into a container, add two eggs, some breadcrumbs soaked in milk and then well squeezed, a pinch of nutmeg is one of thyme. Mix everything until you get a homogeneous mixture and pour it into an oiled pan coated with breadcrumbs. Then beat the yolk of an egg and pour it on the surface, bake at a temperature of 180 degrees and cook for about half an hour. Serve hot or lukewarm.
We conclude with a nice dessert! Here's how to recycle panettone and pandoro
You are sinking into the slice of pandoro? Here's how to get rid of it!
Organize a party of “Mercante in Fiera” with your friends and offer them a good one tiramisu with ricotta and yogurt (we remind you the recipe to do it yourself) made with pandoro.
Let's see how it's done ...
Prepare a large coffee machine and once ready, pour it into a glass or ceramic bowl, add a couple of tablespoons of sugar, half a cup of whiskey cream and let it cool. Then, half dip the pandoro slices in the coffee and place them in a pan, repeating the operation until all the bottom is lined.
Once this is done, mix half a kilo of ricotta, a jar of white yogurt, a couple of tablespoons of sugar, eight teaspoons of Marsala and a pinch of cinnamon, mix and stuff the pandoro.
Now all that remains is to put it in the fridge and sprinkle with plenty of bitter cocoa just before serving!
Panettone babà
If, on the other hand, the panettone is advancing in large quantities, we suggest you turn it into a soft base on which to place the fruit salad that you will serve on the table.
Prepare a syrup by putting two glasses of rum and a glass of water and sugar and mix well.
Cut the panettone slices in two and dip them in the syrup, drain well and with this alternative baba line some ice cream cups. Before serving, pour some diced fruit and your recycled dessert is ready!
Here's yours recycled menu! And as always, enjoy your meal!
Verdiana Amorosi
