There is something so satisfying about enjoying a fabulous lunch and knowing that it was whipped up entirely of leftovers. This sort of food really excites me.
This dish came together from the leftover mussels I had steamed over the weekend, you can check out my easy saffron steamed mussels here and all that goodness that went into the original recipe like saffron, garlic, tomato, and stock got tossed with a fresh batch of boiled spaghetti and then just to take things to another level I sprinkled some of this crispy homemade garlic bread crumbs over top (also made from leftover)
To make the bread crumbs:
Add some bread to the processor and pulse until it's fine. (Pulse a clove of garlic with it until it * disappears*)
I used the most unexpected bread that I had in the fridge from the night before, those large wheat flatbreads that come with the Afghan grilled Tikka and Rice dish from the restaurant. Really did not know where it was going to go but other than spongy white "Bread" (toast bread, wonderbread? I don't eat this stuff, not even sure why it's in my fridge) I had nothing else on hand.
Fortunately for me the Afghan flatbread was truly fabulous and crisped up beautifully when added to the sautee pan with olive oil.
The smell from the kitchen was just amazing while toasting up these breadcrumbs.
Anyway, onto the pasta. Other than the sautee pan it's a one pot meal (If I started out by using the saucepan to toast the breadcrumbs before stewing the sauce it would have truly been a one pot meal)
The sauce just requires a brief cooking of the tomato sauce with some olive oil and a clove of garlic on medium high with the lid on tight. This will caramelize the small amount of tomato puree very quickly. Once that smells lovely transfer into a bowl.
Now the kettle water is added to the pot with lots of salt (does not even have to be cleaned/wiped) and the spaghetti is boiled.
Towards the end of the cooking time I strain the pasta, leaving behind about 2 tbsp of the starchy water and add in the sauce/liquid from the Mussels and let the pasta just suck up all that delicious goodness.
Now all that's left is to toss in those mussels to heat up and then all is added to the tomato sauce and plated.
Garlicy crispy bread goes over top and I'm ready to dig in!
Crispy bread crumbs :
2 slices of bread
1 small- medium clove garlic
Couple of tbsp of olive oil
Salt
Pulse bread and garlic until resembles fine crumbs and garlic. Heat a sautee pan with some olive oil, add crumbs and brown on medium/medium high until toasted. Season with salt to taste and once they are crisp set aside.
Sprinkle over pasta or salad, whatever your heart desires!
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