Late Night Leftover Linguine – AKA: Because You Can Be Fancy Any Time of Night

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You ever get home at 10:40 pm and really don’t feel like cooking, but you also don’t want to eat like a commoner? It might just be me projecting, but that’s pretty much me every night. Cooking something really good doesn’t have to take very long and it doesn’t mean using expensive, exotic ingredients.

I’ve been told I should make some more simple recipes since many of mine can be quite complicated, so here ya go. We’ve all got some stuff left over in the fridge, so why not put it to good use? And who doesn’t like pasta? Here’s a real quick one that takes only about 15 to 20 minutes of total prep and cook time that even the most weary can manage.

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Servings: 1 to 2…but definitely 1 Me

• 4 oz. (1/4 of standard 1 lb. package) Linguine (or any long pasta)
• 1/2 already cooked chicken breast (to follow the recipe in the photo)
• 4 cloves Garlic, minced
• 2 Tbsp. Butter
• 3 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1/4 tsp. Fresh Ground Black Pepper
• 1 Tbsp. Italian Parsley, diced
• 1 Tbsp. shredded Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
• 1 tsp. Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
• Water (How much? Fill up a large saucepan 2/3 of the way)
• Sea Salt (Enough to make the pasta taste like the ocean)

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The ingredients above are really only a guideline here. Since this is a recipe using leftovers, use what you got. If you don’t have any cooked chicken breast, use any ground beef or chicken, or use an already cooked sausage or two. If you don’t have any good Parmigiano Reggiano, heck, even some Kraft “shaky” cheese will do. The instructions will be using my ingredients, but feel free to substitute with what you have and have fun!

1.) Start by getting a large saucepan and filling it about 2/3 of the way with water. As you’re bringing it to a boil, it’s important to salt the water, so add about 1 Tbsp. (depending on how much water there is) Sea Salt and stir until dissolved. Taste the water (let it cool first, dummy…) and add more until it tastes noticeably salty.

2.) Once you’ve got a nice rolling boil, reduce the heat to medium high and add your pasta, keeping it whole, not splitting in half. Start stirring immediately and keep going at a slow pace until the pasta is fully submerged. Once a minute, give the pasta a good stir.

On average, it takes around 10 minutes for the pasta to cook. Take a strand of pasta out near the end to see if it’s cooked to your liking. I prefer mine “al dente” which literally means “to the tooth.” In practice, this means it’s cooked right before the point of being soft, and retains a nice chew to it. The pasta will even roll up to the surface just before it’s done, so that’s a good time to check. Once it’s done, turn off the burner, and drain the pasta in a colander. We’re going to reuse that saucepan for the next steps.

3.) Turn your burner back on, but to medium this time. Place your saucepan back on and add 1 Tbsp. of oil. Add your minced garlic and cook for about 1 minute, stirring after 30 seconds. Add the butter, let that heat for another 30 seconds and add your chicken (or whatever meat) and stir everything just to get it all warmed up. You don’t really want to cook anything any more or you’ll have burned, dry ingredients. Oh, and also add 2 more Tbsp. of oil.

4.) Add the pasta back into the pan and add the black pepper. Stir everything until all of the ingredients are nicely coated in butter and oil, and the chicken, garlic, and pepper are equally dispersed. Now we lump everything into a large bowl or dinner plate and garnish with some cheese, parsley, and red pepper flakes and maybe a little extra black pepper. You might as well give the whole thing an extra glug of olive oil while you’re at it.

Now, it’s only like, 11pm. You’ve got time to eat your pasta AND watch an episode of Outer Range, but not enough time to watch Oppenheimer. Let those carbohydrates and fat get stored in your midsection, and let’s worry about burning them off tomorrow. You’ve got another busy day.