I was all set to make my leftover spaghetti meal with my tried and true recipe, but then I realized I did not have cream cheese. My heart was very heavy that day. I just did not have the energy to make it to the store.

I thought, hmmm…Can I make it with tears?

Just kidding. I raided my pantry. I had thought ahead and had bought a red bell pepper. So, I knew I wanted to incorporate it.

Here is what I came up with:

Ingredients

Leftover spaghetti meat with sauce
One extra jar pasta sauce
Pasta (any old kind you like)
1/4 cup red wine (cause it was that kind of night)
1/3 cup sour cream
1/2 cup shredded four cheese mexican
1/2 cup italian cheese
1/4 cup and 1 Tbsp. Parmesan cheese
1/4 – 1/2 cup bread crumbs (depending on how you want your bread crumb to butter ratio for the topping. I have tried both measurements. I like them both. In the pictures, I am using 1/4 cup.)
1/2 stick melted butter (1/4 cup)
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 diced and seeded red bell pepper
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. ground pepper
Tears

Preheat oven to 350 degrees or 325 degrees convection bake (if you have a convection oven).

Boil noodles according to instructions. Before you drain, reserve 1/3 cup water from pot. Carefully. Set aside. Drain noodles. Set aside.

Heat olive oil in large skillet. Add diced red bell pepper. Cook approximately 5 minutes until soft. Add wine to skillet. Cook 1-2 minutes until it is bubbling and calling your name.

Add leftover spaghetti sauce and new jar of sauce to skillet. Heat up until boiling. Add salt and pepper. Stir.

In the meantime, mix together melted butter, bread crumbs, and 1/4 cup parmesan cheese. Set aside.

Turn off heat to pasta sauce. Add reserved water. Stir. Add sour cream. Quickly stir. Add noodles. Stir.

Add shredded italian and four cheese mexican cheese and you guessed it…stir.

Place in casserole dish.

Sprinkle bread crumb mixture over top. Sprinkle 1 Tbsp. parmesan cheese.

Bake uncovered 20-25 minutes until edges are bubbling.

Turn oven to broil. Broil casserole until the top is just golden brown. This should be thirty seconds to one minute. Watch this!

Then serve it up with salad! This was actually incredibly delicious. The bell pepper with the red wine added that “something special.”

I never know how it is going to go when I throw leftovers together. My family really liked this. So, I will definitely be making it again! I recommend just trying new things. Putting tastes you like together. The worst that could have happened was that the leftovers were ruined and we would have eaten salad for dinner. Yes, I am the mom saying play with your food. It is fun!

What has been your most successful leftover food recreation?