Sure to anger traditionalists, but cut the leftover lasagna into batons and fry sideways for some extra crunchy and caramelized bits. Served with some lemon pepper créme fraiche.

Ragù application number one, carefully layered between sheets of pasta with some spinach and some Béchamel.

Now, it don’t look like much just yet, but this sauce has been slowly simmering in an oven for 4 hours to make sure all the bits and flavors really get to know each other. There really is no substitute for low and slow with something like this. Next up, some pasta to throw this at.

The benefits of having a big, heavy cast iron pan. You can whack some baddies over the head with it in a pinch, or use it to cook a simple one pan dish. Win win.

Pies part 3. Caught myself a free range chicken and the challenge popped into my head to make the most of it. So I ended up with something that, seasonings aside, is essentially just chicken, flour and onions. The dough was made with rendered fat, the gravy was made with a chicken fat roux and chicken stock from the leftover bones (added some miso, made for a phenomenal sauce), the roast chicken was made out of, well… chicken, combined all of it into yet another compact and delicious pie.

Ravioli filling leftovers? Add chopped broccoli, bread it with panko crumbs and fry it. Presto, another dish. The crispy outside makes for a wonderful contrast with the soft potato purée inside.

I felt very fancy today, so I decided to make some crossover between Ravioli and Kasnudeln with a bit of a twist. Whole egg pasta dough. A filling made out of mashed potato, enriched with steeped potato skin liquid to amp up the potato flavor, onions lightly sautéed in butter, seasoned with sherry vinegar and parmesan. The shaping was terribly nerve-wracking with just how delicate the egg yolks were, but I kinda pulled it off in the end. Served on spinach.
Egg yolk is pretty rich as a sauce, so is brown butter, but both in the same dish? Hoo boy that’s an experience.

1

Error happened.

There, it has happened, I’ve discovered pies and am now tumbling down the rabbit hole of stuffing whatever ingredients and leftovers I can find into a 5 inch pastry shell and baking it. This time it’s turkey meat in gravy, mixed with a bit of rice.The hot water dough actually benefits from working it as little as possible, makes for a flakier crust.

When you’re out and about doing questionable things like investigating fiery visions, it’s really important to bring good food along that is easy to transport and hard to spoil. Queue the staple food of many an adventurer, pies. Well seasoned beef and veggies in a buttery hot water crust, brushed with egg, baked until well done and golden brown. Show some patience and let it cool, presto, a complete meal in compact form. I couldn’t help myself and ate one harf (*glug*) already, the rest I’ll save up. But I’m happy with the results.

Hmmm, it’s been a while since I had lasagna, but you gotta love pasta stacked on sauce and baked until it melds into a wonderfully layered dish. A little bit undercooked this time though.