How To Repurpose Gummy, Overcooked Pasta With Ease

When it comes to comfort foods, pasta is something of an enigma. While spaghetti and jarred Bolognese make an easy, filling, and delicious weeknight meal, we all know that cooking pasta properly is something of an art form. You need lots of water at a rolling boil for the noodles to swim in, and plenty of salt in that water to infuse them with flavor. Getting your pasta to the perfect texture can also be something of a guessing game requiring you to fish out, cool, and taste individual noodles until you're sure they're al dente.

After getting this finicky food just right, it's always frustrating when the leftovers don't hold up the way they should. Maybe you let them cool too long, or your storage container didn't seal properly, and now your noodles are gummy and dry. However, those sticky bow ties or desiccated ziti aren't ready for the bin just yet — you just need to use their new texture to your advantage. For instance, slightly dried-out leftover spaghetti makes an amazing frittata base.

Simply whip together the same ingredients you'd use to make a frittata or quiche custard, pour it over a layer of spaghetti (or any other cooked pasta shape), warm things through on the stove, and then chuck the whole pan into your oven to become golden and delicious. This works because the pasta acts a little like a crust, becoming crisp on the bottom while adding dense, carby structure to the rest of the dish.

If you go the frittata route, feel free to flavor things up with a few spoonfuls of pesto, leftover marinara, or focus on the frittata aspect with shredded cheese, wilted spinach, and even crumbled bacon. You can also think outside the Barilla box when considering other ways to use up sticky, dried-out noodles — especially when it comes to choosing flavors.

For instance, if you're stuck with a serving or two of large, flat noodles like bow tie or pappardelle, you can try making deliciously crispy pasta chips in your air fryer. While short, tidy bow tie noodles are ready to be seasoned and tossed in the basket, you'll need to snip longer pappardelle into pieces about an inch long. A light coating of good oil ensures crispness and helps seasonings stick. Powdered Parmesan cheese and Italian seasoning nod to the chips' origins, while barbecue rubs, salt and vinegar seasoning, or onion soup mix replicate your favorite potato chip flavors.

If you miscalculated and have more leftover pasta than you anticipated (we've all been there), a leftover spaghetti casserole may be the way to go. Linguine or fettuccini also work well with this hack, and it's a simple matter of stirring it together with your favorite sauce, some shredded cheese, and baking it until it's bubbly. You can also treat it like any other pasta bake, infusing it with creamy canned soup, sauteed veggies, and the protein of your choice.