Italian Buffet Leftovers Three Ways

A couple of weeks ago I cooked an Italian Buffet for the girls (which mostly consisted of pizza!) and I had a fair few left over ingredients. There was a couple of chicken breasts left from the Chicken Pesto Pizza, some pasta salad, mushrooms, salsa (from the crisp dipping that always occurs on girls night!) and a few bits from the olive selection. So I decided to use these ingredients to feed me for the next week (just about!) and this is how I did it...

Leftovers 1

On the first day I basically bunged everything into a pan with some chopped tomatoes and a little balsamic and made a lovely rich, slightly spicy, tomato dish.

First off, chop a red onion and throw into the pan with a splash of oil (I actually just poured in the oil from the olive platter, so we already had some of those lovely flavours cooking away!)


Crush any left garlic from the olive platter and another clove for good measure, and stir into the onions. Then dice the chicken and add to the pan. Cook until all of the chicken is sealed, then add in the mushrooms, chopped.

As the mushrooms are starting to shrink, add the leftover salsa, a tin of chopped tomatoes, a dash of balsamic vinegar if you've got it, and some dried herbs. I can't honestly remember what I used but maybe something like basil and a little oregano would work well! Give it a good twist of salt and black pepper as well.

Simmer away then add the olives - chopped so that the flavour spreads throughout the dish. I included the chillies as well, but left out the stuffed peppers (I say left out - I actually ate them as I was cooking!!)

I would then leave with a lid part on for about 10minutes or so, making sure that the chicken is cooked through and has soaked up all of those yummy Italian flavours. But don't overdo it on day 1 as you'll be reheating this dish again!!

I served this with left over pasta salad, shredded iceberg lettuce, garlic bread and some grated parmesan over the top for good measure. Now tell me - does this look like a proper plate of leftovers or what?





Save the rest of the tomato chicken stew in the fridge - you'll need this again!

Then I popped the rest of the pasta salad in a tupperware, ready to take for a working lunch the next day!

Leftovers 2

The next evening I fancied rice instead, so I cooked a portion of rice according to packet instructions and heated up a portion of the tomato chicken. Served with some rocket and a little more balsamic - this was absolutely delicious!

Leftovers 3

The third variation on this dish was in a pasta bake. I cooked a couple of portions of pasta in a pan of boiling water until just underdone. Then mix in with the remaining tomato chicken and grate with a little parmesan. Bake in the oven for about 15minutes at 180degrees, or until the sauce is bubbling away and the chicken is heated through. This pasta bake then did the next night as well!







So there you have it - leftover ingredients from one meal, cooked in three different ways and lasting four dinners and a lunch! Not bad going really!

A Manly Steak Dinner!



First of all, I want to apologise for my lack of blogging over the last few weeks -I'm a total idiot and fell asleep with my laptop on my bed... it fell off and has completely broke. I even got a techy friend to have a look and it seems it cannot be fixed so I am currently laptopless and will have to sneak in a quick blog whenever I get chance on someone else's! So frustrating because I've got sooo much to share with you!

Anyway, I'm currently blogging from my boyfriend's laptop and so I thought it would be fitting to share the recipe for the manly steak dinner I cooked him a couple of weeks ago!
 

serves 2

 

Ingredients

2 steaks (I can't honestly remember what cut we had but I would say try get it from a butchers and pick your favourite!)

salt and black pepper

olive oil

1 large sweet potato, chopped into wedges with the skin left on

about a teaspoon of paprika

a sprinkle of cayenne pepper (if you'd a bit of a kick!)

a handful of breadcrumbs (throw a couple of nearly stale slices in a blender)

1 clove of garlic, crushed

a sprig of thyme

a handful of grated parmesan

6 small portabella mushrooms

1/2 onion, chopped finely
about 150ml single cream

Preheat the oven to 200degrees. Get your steak out of the fridge and season both sides with salt and pepper, pressing it in with your fingers to massage the meat a little. Leave to one side.

 

Lay the sweet potato wedges on a baking tray, and coat in the paprika and cayenne pepper if using. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil. Mix the potatoes around the tray to ensure everything is coated evenly, then put in the oven for at least half an hour - if you want them soft then this will be enough, if you want blackened corners and a bit more of a crunch then leave in for another 10mins or so. Make sure you mix them around again about half way through cooking.

 

Put a griddle pan (or heavy bottomed pan) on the hob on a high heat and leave to become very hot.

Remove the thyme leaves from the stalk and mix together in a bowl with the breadcrumbs, garlic and half of the parmesan. Cut the stalks of your mushrooms and if you don't want to throw them away, then chop finely and add to the breadcrumb mix. Spoon the mixture into your mushrooms and place on a baking tray. Drizzle with olive oil, then put in the oven for about 10mins, or until slightly crispy on the top.

Add some olive oil to a frying pan and gently fry the onions.

Put your steak onto the griddle pan and leave for a couple of minutes on one side, before turning over and cooking the other side. Once sealed all over then take off the heat and leave to rest for a few minutes before serving. I'm not going to go into detail on this because I'm not the world's greatest steak cooker and we like it fairly rare which will not be to everyone's taste... But just don't overdo it!

 

Once the onions are turning soft and golden, then add the cream and parmesan and a good twist of black pepper. You can also mix into the sauce the juices that have run out of your resting steak.

Serve your lovely rustic sweet potato wedges, flavourful stuffed mushrooms and steak onto plates, and dollop on the sauce in a manly fashion. Pop a couple of beers on the table and enjoy!