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It wouldn’t be Christmas without spaghetti. Wait. What?

Let me start over.

It wouldn’t be Christmas without me trying to make some kind of crazy fun dish that the kids can remember. This one beats tuna fish sandwiches dyed red and green…

But just by a bit. ; )

I wanted to do something special with my leftover spaghetti the other night. Well, as special as leftover spaghetti can be. With Christmas here, I had a fun idea. I wanted to make individual Christmas wreath ramekins filled with…spaghetti leftovers.

Frugal and fun?!

Happy day!

Ingredients:

Leftover spaghetti (I would say this is 2 jars pasta sauce with 1/2 pound cooked ground meat, 1/2 package spaghetti noodles)
1/8 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 diced red bell pepper
1/4 cup red wine
3 Tbsp. Olive oil
1 clove of minced garlic (I use 1 tablet from frozen packet)
1/2 block (4 Tbsp.) softened cream cheese
1/2 of a real mozarella cheese ball sliced into 1/2″ slices

Topping:

5 Tbsp. Butter
1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp. Bread crumbs
1/4 tsp. italian seasoning

Optional:

Anything green to use as filler on plate around your round ramekin. I used broccoli. It makes another pretty wreath.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a small bowl, mix up your melted butter, bread crumbs and italian seasoning.

I sautéed my bell pepper in the olive oil for approximately seven minutes. Then I added the garlic and cooked the mixture for another minute. I added the wine and let that simmer for a minute.

I mixed the cream cheese, leftover spaghetti sauce and noodles, and bell pepper mixture together. I plated the ingredients into individual round ramekins.

I placed a slice of mozzarella cheese on top. Then I placed the bread crumbs into a circle around the cheese.

Place the ramekins onto a baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes until cheese is melted.

Turn oven to broil. Broil for approximately one minute until bread crumbs are golden brown. Be careful! You do not want your cheese to burn!

Serve up on plates.

You can also add an additional wreath of green vegetables of your choice around the ramekin for an extra wreath layer. And an extra opportunity to fill your kids tummies (or your own) with an extra vegetable.

I won’t tell if you don’t.

Enjoy!

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?

Gnome Lover

Stumbling through life while still having fun

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Holiday Spaghetti Wreaths

Leftover Spaghetti Take II