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Before and After: Mr. CBB’s Spinach and Ricotta Fettucine

Welcome to the second post of our new series, Before and After!  You can read our first post by going to the Frugal Food page.  Today, in honor of my friend Mr. CBB, we’re tackling a vegetarian dish.  This dish from Mr. CBB over at Canadian Budget Binder, has fast become a family favorite around here.  Never in my life did I think I’d see the day when the kids begged for a dish that included spinach, but thanks to Mr. CBB, they do!

 

The ingredients are listed here, but you can go over to the original post for complete directions (and for other really amazing recipes).  Doesn’t it look delicious?

  • 1 pkg fettuccine pasta (we use about 12 ounces)  (reserve 1/4 cup cooking water)
  • 3 cups of spinach (washed)
  • 500 grams of fresh Ricotta cheese
  • salt for pasta water
  • 4 cloves of garlic minced
  • fresh Parmigiano cheese
  • 3  tablespoons of butter

When we make this dish (cost, about $5 if you shop at Walmart and get the generic noodles), we make a lot of it, so that we can have leftovers the next day.  But this week, I decided to do something different with the leftovers:

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We made them into soup!  I based this recipe off of an old soup recipe that I’ve had for years, a spinach and tortellini tomato-based soup.  So, here’s what I did:

Took the leftovers (we had 2 to 3 cups leftover), put them into a medium-sized pot, and added:

   – 1 -15 oz can of diced tomatoes, juice and all

     – 1 soup can of water (my original recipe calls for a can of chicken broth, but we use water and salt instead)

     – salt to taste (we add about a teaspoon)

     – 2 pressed fresh garlic cloves

We simmered the soup on low for about 30 minutes or so, adding more water when necessary to get the desired consistency, and voila!  The sweet, tangy, garlicky taste was so warm and soothing: perfect for a cold day!

Some other ideas for leftovers from the Spinach and Ricotta Fettucine?

Bake at 350 degrees after you:

– put it into an appropriate-sized baking dish and add a little milk, and top with crushed garlic-flavored croutons and some more parmesan.

–  bake it with some cheddar cheese and milk for a fancied-up mac and cheese dish

– top it with spaghetti sauce and mozzarella and bake

When you start with a great main dish, leftovers can actually be fun – try it!

What are your favorite leftover ideas?  We’d love to have a guest post for our Before and After series.  If you’re interested, simply read our guest post guidelines and contact us.

 

29 comments

  1. I never used to like spinach as a kid, but I think it all comes down to how you cook it and what it’s in.

    My wife makes the best spinach and ricotta cannelloni which I am sure as a kid I would have enjoyed.

  2. Hey Laurie,
    That’s awesome. Thanks for sharing this with me and including me in your switch up. I’ve shared it with my fans to see what other ideas they can come up with!! Have a lovely day mate. #inspirational

  3. Mary F. Campbell says:

    I love the soup idea! I think I may turn the whole recipe into a soup! 🙂 Thanks for sharing the idea.

  4. Looks good Laurie! When I ate pasta fettucine was my favorite for sure. Yesterday I tried to make a Lasagna without noodles for the first time. Even made my own sauce by roasting the tomatoes first. We are trying it tonight. I hope it turned out.

  5. I love making soup out of just about anything. I’ll have to try try both of these. BTW, do you have a good recipe for plain old tomato soup, creamy, not chunky? I am trying to replicate the Amy’s Organic cream of tomato that is $2.50 a can. No luck so far.

    • Laurie says:

      Hi Kim! Yes, you should try them – Mr. CBB’s recipe is amazingly delicious! I don’t have a good one for the tomato soup, but let me check with a friend, whom I lovingly refer to as my “cooking extraordinaire” friend. She’s an amazing cook. 🙂

    • Laurie says:

      I agree Shannon! It’s important to have a positive attitude when facing Mr. CBB’s Fettucine recipe – the taste alone is worth it. 🙂

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