Leftoverpalooza!

Although I am writing this post almost one week after the aforementioned, "Leftoverpalooza", I am still just so darn excited about how I was able to transform a bunch of random bits and pieces that I needed to clear out of my refrigerator into a tasty, (somewhat) healthy dinner that all of my family members enjoyed thoroughly. We begin with the story of a recipe, which we (meaning my husband and myself), enjoyed long ago - a baked pasta dish with a sauce of pureed winter/butternut squash, covered in a crispy-crunchy bread crumb and Parmesan cheese topping. Now, the original recipe was meant to mimic the color, if not the specific flavor, of macaroni and cheese and, if I recall correctly, did not go over very well with the two children it was meant to impress.

This time, as I said, I was attempting to clear out the fridge and, with the original recipe in mind, I riffed on the veggie/mac 'n cheese beginning with some frozen chunks of butternut squash. I nuked those in the microwave with a little bit of water until they were thoroughly cooked and completely tender. While that was going, I started some salted water for about a pound of basic shell pasta. When the squash was ready, I mashed the chunks into a kind of stringy puree with the back of a fork and, decided, at the last second to grate and add the leftover hunk of reduced fat cheddar cheese (probably about 2 ounces) to the mix. I also had some lovely ham, leftover from the previous night's dinner at my mom's house, which I diced into small pieces, adding it to the cheese and squash mixture. Continuing with the "kitchen-sink" theme, I added about a 1/4 cup of heavy cream, leftover from an ice cream recipe, which turned the mixture into this incredibly luscious looking, pale orange sauce, which (I think) anyone would have been hard pressed to discern from a traditional bechamel based cheese sauce. I wasn't really sure how the stuff would taste, but, like I said, it looked darn good. For the topping, I chopped a bunch of leftover parsley, mixing it with some bread crumbs that I had in the freezer and some grated Parmesan cheese. When the pasta was al dente, I drained it, then tossed it with the squashy cheese sauce. I poured it into my prepared (read: coated the crap out of it with cooking spray) oven proof dish, topped it with the bread crumb mixture and put it into my preheated oven at about 350 degrees. The dish probably baked for 20 to 25 minutes and, when it came out, the sauce was bubbling and the bread crumb topping was delectably golden brown. Despite how good it looked, it was still down to how good it tasted.

We sat down at the table and both of my girls expressed their excitement at being served macaroni and cheese. They were a little concerned about the green flecks of parsley (or "leaves", as my younger daughter usually calls anything with chlorophyll), but they both agreed to try it. I put a little on both of their plates and was more than a little surprised when they both scarfed it down and requested seconds (my older daughter even came back for thirds). I tried it kind of skeptically myself - I really wasn't sure how the flavors of the squash and cheese would work together. I was amazed at how creamy and downright delicious the combination actually was! The squash was pretty overpowered by the sharpish flavor of the cheddar, but it lent the sauce the perfect hue of yellowish-orange that is always the marker of a good mac n cheese (according to my kids, at least). The ham provided a nice textural counterpoint with its chewy density and added a lovely, smokey and salty flavor to the dish. The bread crumb topping was toasty, slightly nutty and salty (from the Parmesan) and the parsley flecks perked up the taste and appearance of the dish with its fresh green color and flavor. The pasta was perfectly cooked - just slightly chewy and all the more luscious as it absorbed the beautiful sauce. In fact, those shells made the ideal sauce carrier - the ham pieces just nestled in for the ride to our mouths. Seriously, this little experiment was tasty. Not all of my attempts at creating delectable dishes out of random leftovers turn out this way, but this time, I got lucky. Unfortunately, everyone liked the dish so well, there were not any leftovers for me for lunch the next day, but goodness knows I would much rather have dinner heartily eaten. In fact, the pictorial evidence shown below is just before my husband consumed the final little bit. Maybe next time, I will remember to take a picture before we actually eat our meal.