In the true spirit of a peasant kitchen I don't like to waste food. I always try to use up everything that I buy. One of my favorite ways to use leftovers is in a Frittata. Frittata's are great because you can add almost anything to them. Usually it's leftover vegetables that I don't want to turn into soup in the bottom of my fridge but this morning I had some left over boiled potatoes from last night's dinner and some spaghetti from 2 days ago as well as some cherry tomatoes. When I was younger my father used to make his famous "farmer's breakfast". It was the only thing he cooked but my brother and I loved it. Basically it was eggs with potatoes, spaghetti if we had some left over as well as bacon and onion. It was delicious! This morning I didn't have bacon but into the pan the potatoes and spaghetti went to heat up.
The trick is to add the potatoes first and cook them very, very slowly. You don't actually want them to fry but just heat up slowly until they are very soft. Almost like velvet in your mouth. When they are almost ready add the spaghetti and cook on low for a while. Again you only want to cook it until it's almost crisp but not crunchy. Add the tomatoes at the last minute. I also had some basil growing on my patio so I added that. Once the tomatoes are just warm add the egg mixture. About 3 - 4 large eggs beaten with a little milk, salt & pepper is good.
Once the eggs on the bottom of the pan have cooked I add a little grated parmesan and put it under the broiler until the eggs are no longer runny. Once it's ready I let it cool for a few minutes in the pan and then it's ready to serve.
The great thing about Frittata's are that they can be eaten hot right away for breakfast but they are also yummy at room temperature for lunch or dinner served with a salad.
What's your favorite way to use up leftovers?
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