Can you freeze leftover spaghetti?

The world is full of unanswered questions.  Why?  Why me?  Why do cats do that?  Will it burn?

The kitchen, microcosm of the world, is also full of unanswered questions, such as "can I freeze this?"

Not nearly as deep, but when you're worn out, staring at the kitchen and thinking "I really don't want to cook tonight," you're not after deep, you're after fast and easy.

I had this giant bag of frozen spaghetti and sauce from a week or two ago that I'd tossed in the freezer when it was apparent that I'd made way too much (it was a crock-pot recipe) and we weren't going to eat it before it spoiled.

I wasn't sure the spaghetti would hold up, but since there are lots of frozen noodle dishes in the instant-dinner aisle of the grocery store, I figured we'd give it a try.  What could we lose, right?

I had put the freezer bag in the fridge that morning.  Around 5:30, I turned the block of frozen leftovers into my pan. 

Needless to say, that would have taken a l...o...n...g... time to thaw.  So I pulled it out of the pan and put it in the microwave to defrost (we used the meat defrost setting).  About 9 minutes later, I put it back in the pan, brought everything to a simmer for a few minutes and served it with a salad.

It actually held up pretty well!  Of course, we were hungry, and the pasta had lost any claim to al dente but the sauce was good and the noodles were softer than usual, but not mushy.  We had used the multi-grain spaghetti, and I suspect that helped it hold up.

So, can you freeze leftover spaghetti?  Yes.

Lemon-Herb Spaghetti with Scallops

We needed some simple dinners this past week, so I pulled a few staples from the crisper and we got chopping.  I wanted to do something that would use the duxelles we made earlier in the week, and scallops were on sale at the store.  Since they don't take long to cook, we went for an easy pasta dish.  The nice thing about pasta is that you can make a double batch and dress it up differently the next night, so lemon-herb-scallops tonight, red sauce with meatballs the next.

First things first, I put my son in charge of the giant pot of pasta.

I put the scallops in a colander between layers of paper towles to get them as dry as possible.  If you put them wet and gloppy in the pan, they tend to overcook by stewing in their own juice.

Next, I put my daughter in charge of chopping (herbs) while I minced (garlic) and squeezed (lemon).

When all that was ready, we heated a few tablespoons of olive oil in a large saucepan and let it get hot enough so you could see the ripples in the surface of the oil.  We added the scallops and let them cook quickly.  As soon as they got opaque, about 4 minutes total, I lifted then from the pan and, leaving only a little bit of the juices, quickly sauted the garlic and herbs, about 1 minute.  Then we added about 1/2 cup of the duxelles and let them warm up.

I added about 2 cups of chicken stock and the lemon juice and let the whole pan warm up, then turned it off.

Meanwhile, some frozen peas went into the microwave.

When the peas and pasta were both ready, they went into the saucepan with the scallops and we brought it to a boil, then served it up.

You could make this recipe without the scallops or with another protein in its place, but the scallops reminded of the linguini with clam sauce my grandparents used to make.  

Spaghetti and Meatballs

Just in case you think we've been doing nothing but partying, we wanted to pass along these easy meatballs for one of those nights when you need a quick, satisfying dinner.

Cranberry Meatballs

.75-1 lb ground beef (I recommend the 80/20 grind for quick dinners.  The 90/10 tends to be a bit dry unless you're cooking the meatballs for a very long time in the sauce.)
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup pine-nuts
3 TB ketchup
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
pepper, salt and ground cayenne to tast (typically 1/4 tsp pepper and salt, 1/8 tsp of cayenne)

In a bowl, mix all the ingredients with your hands, then form the meatballs between your palms, rolling evenly sized balls about 1 inch wide.

Heat a large non-stick saucepan with a skim of olive oil.  When the pan is hot, add the meatballs and cook over medium heat, shaking the pan frequently, until the meatballs are darkly browned on all sides, about 10-13 minutes, depending on the quantity of meat used and your stove's heat.

Add tomato sauce (we used a jar, but you could make tomorrow's sauce if you're feeling leisurely) and cook until the sauce is thoroughly hot and bubbling.  If you're not sure, you can split a meatball open to check for doneness.

Serve over the spaghetti or noodle of your choice.  We prefer angle hair for this dish.