When a woman leaves her husband alone in their apartment for a week while she goes to visit her parents, several things will appear to be true upon her return:
- The kitchen table, counter, and stove top will have clearly not been wiped down since she left;
- Her cat will have apparently contracted some kind of UTI or bladder issue, and will now be lingering piteously around the cat box;
- The vet bill for said cat will cost $192; and
- The refrigerator will be full of half-finished man foods that need to be used ASAP or they will go terribly, terribly bad.
Despite ridiculous vet bills (wish I could just give him some cranberry juice and leave it at that) and leftovers I’m not sure what to do with (a lot of cooked spaghetti, 1/2 lb of uncooked ground turkey, and wilty spinach), it’s really nice to be home. So when the opportunity came to cook Fritz a nice meal while impressing him with my ability to turn what he calls “an empty fridge” into something delicious, I jumped on it. I want to be a leftover magician.
Hello, frittata.
Spinach and Pasta Frittata
- 1 small onion, diced
- 1 T butter
- 1/2 lb ground turkey (you could also use chicken, beef, sausage, whatever)
- 1/2 t smoked paprika (alright, I’m obsessed)
- 1/2 t salt
- 2 handfuls spinach (1/2 C cooked spinach)
- 1/2 lb-3/4 lb cooked whole-wheat spaghetti
- 5-7 eggs, depending on how much pasta you have
- 1/3 C skim milk
- 1/2 C grated cheddar cheese
I didn’t take an “ingredients shot” this time, because, let’s be honest–it’s really difficult to make a pile of leftovers look appealing.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Melt the butter in an oven-safe pan (we are gonna cook the entire frittata in this pan) over medium heat and saute the onion until soft and translucent. Add the ground turkey and cook thoroughly, then flavor it with the salt and paprika.
Next, toss in two handfuls of spinach and stir in until they are wilted. Add the spaghetti on top, and combine.
Crack the eggs into a separate bowl, and add the milk and cheese.
Whisk until light, and pour over the top of the spaghetti mixture.
Bake in the oven on the medium rack until the eggs no longer look runny, and the edges are brown and crispy, about fifteen minutes. I also turned on the broiler for the last few minutes to get a nice, browned top–it’s always nice to have a little crunch!
This came out really nicely. The best thing about a frittata like this is that you can literally make it however you want–add different vegetables, meat, spices, sauces, whatever! It’s perfect for a leftovers dinner or even a leftovers breakfast.
The smoked paprika also gave it a nice smoky flavor that I now want to eat in everything. I’m obsessed. I can’t stop.
Fritz took one look and said, “that looks gourmet!”. He also said that it didn’t taste “leftover” at all.
Success.
Henry, who has been traumatized from his visit to the vet, has taken refuge in a pile of cardboard by the door waiting to be recycled. I spotted him by the tail–poor baby.
We also just watched the movie Funny People, which I actually liked a lot despite its large quantity of genital-based humor. Adam Sandler is so nice to watch when he is playing a serious character, and I thought it ended up being quite moving and thought-provoking. Anyone else out there enjoy that movie?
10 comments
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zosanalma
June 3, 2011 at 9:56 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Wow! Is this your original recipe. It looks sooooooo yummy.
Lauren Zietsman
June 3, 2011 at 10:02 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
yep! I always link to or cite an original recipe, otherwise it’s all mine
redfly
June 4, 2011 at 12:35 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
wow, delicious too ^_^
My BlogJect
June 4, 2011 at 4:13 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
great leftover use! I always find anything with eggs is amazing anyway! But to think to incorporate even the leftover pasta, very good work!
Well done you.
Hope your cat gets better too!
Hannah
June 5, 2011 at 12:13 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I made this tonight with my roommates– our first dinner at our new place! We added red and green bell peppers and left out the turkey to accomodate our vegetarian friends. It made the whole kitchen smell delicious. The broiler at the end was a great tip. I foresee many frittatas being made in my kitchen… they can really turn leftovers into something fantastic!
Lauren Zietsman
June 5, 2011 at 12:05 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
yay! glad it worked out!!
Sage and Sass
June 5, 2011 at 5:33 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I know exactly how you feel, have been in love with smoked paprika ever since my time in Germany! I always thought frittatas were hard! I am gonna try this! Thx!
Lauren Zietsman
June 5, 2011 at 11:29 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
nope, totally easy! and now I want to try smoked paprika on EVERYTHING–must be the Hungarian in me
limenlemons
June 7, 2011 at 4:15 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
This one surely gonna try
spice up Wed night dinner!
Hope Henry is feeling better…
Rikki Lehane
August 24, 2012 at 5:15 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I just made this with a leftover zucchini (in place of the turkey), some tri-color rotini, parmesan instead of cheddar, and normal paprika. It turned out delicious AND really, really beautiful!