How to Make a Breakfast Frittata with Leftover Pasta
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Leftover pasta made into a hearty breakfast frittata. (Photo: Donna Yen)
While leftover pasta can still be delicious on day 2, sometimes you just want something different. Here I show you how to make last’s night pasta into a super easy egg dish fit for a crowd: a satisfying breakfast frittata cooked with shredded parmesan cheese and bits of broccoli rabe.
The dish came about after binge watching the first season of Aziz Anzari’s new Netflix show “Master of None.” When the series was finished I was craving one thing more than ever — pasta. Not just any kind of pasta but one particular noodle on my mind was bucatini. There is one scene on the show where Anzari’s character, Dev, schools his friend over his lunch — “That ain’t spaghetti, that’s bucatini! It’s a thicker noodle, dummy!”— but Dev was right, bucatini is nothing like spaghetti. The noodle soaks up more sauce than any ordinary spaghetti and even whistles if you slurp it too fast because of the tiny hole in its center. Inspired, I picked up a pack of buccatini (also called perciatelli.)
Related: Aziz Ansari’s Netflix Series Is a Love Letter to Food
Leftover pasta, eggs, and broccoli rabe. (Photo: Donna Yen)
These bucatini noodles were a lot bigger than what I had anticipated. They ballooned to the size of udon noodles once they were boiled. They tasted delicious nonetheless and you bet I had plenty of leftovers. The next morning I knew exactly what I was having for breakfast. I’ve been meaning to try making a frittata with leftover pasta for some time now ever since I saw this recipe from Cal Peternell. This is such an easy and great way to use up any pasta you have lying around whether it be macaroni, spaghetti, penne, and it’s OK if they’re covered in sauce from the night before. The more the merrier!
Related: Make a Frittata with Your Leftover Pasta
Parmesan makes everything taste like a million bucks. (Photo: Donna Yen)
The egg mixture was so simple, just a little salt, pepper, and parmesan cheese. To add some green to the dish I saw a nice bundle of broccoli rabe at the market and decided to add it to the mix. It was my first time cooking with it, and I have to say, it was delicious. The slight bitterness of the rabe balanced well with all the parmesan and eggs in the dish. If you don’t have broccoli rabe on hand you can use any other kind of hearty vegetable like kale, collard greens, and swiss chard.
Frittata goes into the broiler until the cheese on top melts and turns golden brown. (Photo: Donna Yen)
I cooked the frittata on the stove for a few minutes and then finished it in my trusty broiler. The broiler is that scary drawer at the bottom of your oven that usually houses old baking sheets and pans. It’s an underrated part of the kitchen that I think many of us forget about. But imagine it as your puny toaster oven with a million times the power. It delivers that hot heat from top to finish off all your dishes and in this case, to melt cheese and bake eggs to perfection. Serve this straight up in your skillet for a stress-free brunch dish that will have people losing their noodles over.
Leftover Bucatini Frittata with Broccoli Rabe
Serves 4
½ pound broccoli rabe, rough stems removed
5 eggs
½ cup grated parmesan
¼ teaspoon salt
Fresh black pepper
3 cups of leftover pasta
Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and add the broccoli and cook for 3 minutes. Drain the water and cut the broccoli rabe in 2-inch pieces. Keep to the side for later use.
Add the eggs, ¼ cup of parmesan (reserve the remaining ¼ cup of cheese), salt, and freshly cracked pepper in a mixing bowl. Taking a fork, whisk, and combine the ingredients together until well combined and resembles a pale yellow color.
Turn your broiler on to high.
Next, coat an 8-inch oven-safe skillet with olive oil and heat on medium heat. Add leftover pasta and cook for 2 minutes. Then evenly scatter the broccoli on the pan and pour in your egg mixture. Continue to cook for 3 minutes.
Scatter the remaining parmesan on top and pop the skillet into the broiler for 3-4 minutes until the cheese is melted and the top is a golden color. Serve immediately and enjoy!
More recipes to take from day to night:
How to Turn Day Old Cake into a Boozy Chocolate Trifle
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Turn Leftover Chicken Into Spicy Tostadas With This Secret Ingredient
