The Chef-Approved Way To Transform Leftover Pasta Into A Delicious New Dish

Are you staring at a Tupperware full of leftover spaghetti, but not too excited about microwaving it for lunch? We get it. We're always looking for new creative ways to use up leftover pasta. Luckily for us, there's a chef-approved way to transform the remnants of last-night's dinner into a delicious new dish. Chef Jasper J. Mirabile Jr., the owner of Jasper's Restaurant in Kansas City, Missouri, has an excellent trick for you — simply pan fry your leftover pasta in oil to turn it into pasta assassina, a spaghetti dish with a killer name.

Pasta assassina, or assassin's pasta, originates from Bari in Puglia, in the south of Italy. Mirabile Jr explains, "It's known for its unique cooking method, which involves frying the pasta in a pan rather than boiling it in water. The dish results in a crispy, caramelized exterior with intense tomato and garlic flavors." The chef continues, "This is also a Sunday night specialty in many homes in Italy."

And in essence, you can easily turn any tomato-saucy leftover pasta into pasta assassina. The chef agrees, "...add the pasta already cooked with tomato sauce to sauté pan and add some cream and red pepper along with some grated cheese and toss. Oh, so delicious!"

By transforming leftover tomato-sauce coated pasta into pasta assassina in a hot pan, you change it's texture from soft to crispy with a good bite and plenty of rich, caramelized flavors. It's a vast improvement on limp, sad-looking microwaved pasta. You also get to enjoy pasta assassina without making it from scratch, which is a time-consuming business of cooking dried pasta in a large pan by gradually adding spoonfuls of sauce with a lot of stirring. Typically, the dish will have heat from spice, a caramelized taste, and that crunchy-pasta texture.

Another way to make pasta assassina with leftover pasta is to use the air fryer or oven and broiler. In case you're not a fan of frying food, you have options. Grease a baking dish, add some tomato sauce and aromatics before adding the leftover pasta. Bake until slight crispy and the sauce is charred. Use the broiler as needed to crisp up the top.

Finally, let's say your leftover pasta has a cheesy or white sauce base, rather than a tomato one. An alternative to transforming it into assassin's pasta would be to turn it into cheesy flavorful fritters. Chop up your leftover pasta and mix it with beaten eggs, cheese, and panko breadcrumbs. Shape into fritters and pan or deep-fry them. Serve with a dipping sauce, like peppery aioli to make your leftover pasta-fritter zing with flavor.