The figures are unprecedented and worrying. The price of pasta, a basic ingredient, continues to rise. The blame for the low yield due to unfavorable climatic conditions as well as the war in Ukraine, one of the main grain exporting countries.
To start the new school year on a positive note, here’s a double ration of inventive recipes, each offering a tip for not wasting cooked or raw pasta.
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► Risotto of crushed pasta with gremolata
You never know what to do with the bottom of packages of pasta lying around in the cupboards, small amounts of different types of pasta that don’t cook at the same time. Collect your leftover pasta in all shapes, loot it and try the broken pasta risotto!
For 4 people
250 g mixed pasta
1 liter of chicken broth
80 g freshly grated parmesan
1 lemon peel
8 sprigs flat-leaf parsley
30 g unsalted butter
2 shallots
1 stalk of celery
1 splash of extra virgin olive oil
Fine salt and ground pepper
Place your remaining pasta of any shape (penne, spaghetti, macaroni, etc.) in a clean paper towel and flatten it roughly with a rolling pin.
In an ovenproof dish, fry the chopped shallots and celery without coloring the olive oil. Add the pasta and then the broth that has been reheated. Cook over medium heat, add stock, ladle by ladle, like a risotto. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
Coarsely mix the parmesan with lemon zest and flat parsley. After 15 minutes of boiling, remove from the heat and stir in the parmesan and softened butter. Stir vigorously for 30 seconds and serve immediately.
► Pasta and ham serpentine gratin
Serpentine au gratin pasta and ham. /Emmanuel Auger
What to do with the two or three sheets of fresh (or pre-cooked) lasagna left over from the package you bought for Sunday’s family meal? Just cut them into strips to make a great ham pasta gratin. You can also make maltagliati (literally “badly cut” in Italian) by randomly cutting the pasta into pieces of various sizes, then incorporating into a tomato sauce or chicken stock.
For 4 people
4 sheets of fresh lasagna noodles
2 thick slices of ham
For bechamel
40 g unsalted butter
50 cl whole milk
40 g flour
50 g grated Comté cheese
4 pinches of grated nutmeg
Fine salt and ground pepper
Cut the lasagna sheets into strips 2 cm wide. Do the same with the ham slices.
In a small saucepan, melt the butter. Add the flour and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly with a whisk. Pour in the cold milk and continue to cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Season to taste with salt, pepper and nutmeg. As soon as the bechamel thickens, remove it from the heat, add the county and whisk quickly.
Preheat the oven to 200°C. Pour the béchamel into an ovenproof dish. Wrap a strip of lasagna with a strip of ham into a small spiral. Place it in the center of the dish and continue this spiral by adding strip after strip, the lasagna and the ham.
Bake the gratin for 20 minutes at 200°C. Serve this dish with, for example, a green salad.
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► Sunday Leftovers Chicken Calamarata
La Calamarata with Sunday leftover chicken. /Emmanuel Auger
How to accommodate in two steps, three movements and in a very greedy way some pasta and leftover roast chicken. An anti-gaspi dish, proposed by chef Simone Zanoni.
Recipe taken from Simone Zanoni pasta, pasta, pasta (Le Cherche Midi)
For 4 people
400 g calamarata
Fried chicken breast (carcases, bones, skin and meat)
1 carrot and 1 stalk celery or carrot and onion peels
1 onion
1/2 head of garlic
thyme and rosemary
Butter
Olive oil
Fleur de sel, peppercorns
Roast the onion cut in half without peeling it in a pan with a splash of oil. Let it brown well.
Collect the chicken meat on the reliefs, crush the bones and reserve everything. Put the rest of the chicken in a pan together with the vegetables, garlic, roasted onion and thyme. Just cover with water and let this broth cook for 1 hour and 30 minutes.
Strain the stock and reduce to three-quarters in a large, high-sided saucepan. You should get a fairly thick juice.
Boil water for the pasta in a large pot and salt it.
Dip the calamarata in the water and let them cook for half the time indicated on the package.
Take the pasta and finish cooking in the pan, add two spoons of reduced juice, to get cooked pasta al dente (taste!) and a creamy sauce. Pepper.
Add the reserved chicken, then mix off the heat with a pat of butter and chopped rosemary.
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► Small spaghetti tarts with lemon bread
Small spaghetti tarts with lemon bread. /Emmanuel Auger
Sure, you can reheat leftover spaghetti that’s already been cooked with a few slices of garlic, lemon zest, and olive oil, or even leftover sauce. But you can also serve them for a dinner with friends by preparing them nicely.
For 6 people
250 g cooked spaghetti
2 organic lemons
100 g stale breadcrumbs
2 eggs
80 g parmesan
1 splash of olive oil
Fine salt and ground pepper
Brown the stale breadcrumbs in a frying pan with olive oil, stirring very often. When it is nicely colored and crisp, remove from the heat and add the grated zest of the lemons. Mix well. Cut the lemons into three slices each. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Beat the eggs in a bowl with parmesan, salt and pepper. Add the spaghetti and mix thoroughly. Spread half of the breadcrumbs in a nonstick or silicone muffin tin. Divide the spaghetti into small nests in the 6 cavities. Cover with the rest of the graters and then a slice of lemon.
Bake the plate for 20 minutes and serve the small crispy spaghetti tarts with a green salad or raw vegetables.