Orecchiette and the Kitchen Sink Recipe

Easy orecchiette pasta and vegetables recipe for whatever is in your fridge

I love pasta. I’d eat it a whole lot more than I do if it wasn’t so full of carbs. However, I like to splurge every now and again.

This dish is super simple because it just takes whatever leftovers you have in your refrigerator and puts it together in a simple pasta dish. For this one, I chose orecchiette as it is one of my favorite pastas, especially for a light dish like this with no protein in it, as it provides something to actually chew on. Much more satisfying when you have to chew your food.

For this one, this is what I had available upon going through the refrigerator, but you can use any of your favorites. You just have to think for a second on how long the different veggies need to cook.

Level of Difficulty: Easy
Time Required: Prep Time – 5-10 min; Cook Time – Pasta (depends on your selection) – Vegetables (also depends, but probably 10 minutes)

Ingredients:

3-4 stalks asparagus

1 large handful of spinach

2 handfuls of mushrooms, quartered

2 fresh tomatoes, roughly chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced (I used the sun-dried tomato and garlic that I was trying out, it was good but fresh garlic is better)

2 balls fresh mozzarella

1/4 cup of white wine

Extra virgin olive oil

Salt and Pepper

Preparation:

Depending on the ingredients you have chosen, you will need to think about time to cook each one. I would always start the garlic and onions if you have them and of course any protein. This is what I did for these simple ingredients.

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and add the orecchiette and cook until al dente. Meanwhile, sauté the garlic in 2-3T olive oil over medium high heat. Add the mushrooms and sauté for about 4-5 minutes.

Deglaze the pan with the wine.

When they are close to done, add the asparagus for about 2 minutes.

Then add the tomatoes for about 2 minutes. Remove from heat.

Add the drained, cooked pasta to the sauté pan and add the fresh spinach.

Add salt and pepper to taste and more olive oil. Stir to allow the heat of the pasta to wilt the spinach. Transfer to a serving bowl and top with slices of quality fresh mozzarella.

Variations:

Use leftover chicken or brown some sausage and add to the dish! Use whatever vegetables you like.

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