If you're like me, there have been times when an exuberant, eyes-bigger-than-your-stomach hand of pasta thrown into the roiling boil leads to a small mountain of cooked noodles out the other side.

If you mix it all up with your limited pasta sauce you end up with way too much under seasoned pasta, but if you leave some noodles aside – what do you do with them?

You could just toss em' out, but throwing out perfectly good noodles never feels very nice – if only there was some way to use up leftover noodles…

Wait a minute – THERE IS A WAY TO USE UP LEFTOVER NOODLES!

Frittatas, hearty and thick Italian omelets are the perfect destination for leftovers of all types, and as an Italian omelet, it's not surprising that they absorb leftover pasta deliciously.

Add a few noodles a little freshly grated parmesan cheese, and serve beside a little mixed green salad – and you've got yourself a very elegant and satisfying next day lunch; using your leftover noodles.

Leftover Pasta Frittata

Serving 4 for lunch or a light dinner – this recipe can be multiplied or divided as needed.

• 8 large eggs
• 1/4 cup of heavy cream, or about ½ cup of milk
• 2-3 Tbls of olive oil (you can substitute vegetable oil if desired, but the olive oil does add a nice flavor)
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 3 or 4 cups of leftover cooked pasta
• 1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese (you must must must grate your own parmesan. There is simply no comparison in taste between pre-grated tasteless dusty powdered parmesan and fragrant and sharp freshly grated)
• Tomato sauce, optional

Easy Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 425
2. Heat a non stick oven safe skillet, heating the olive oil over medium. A 6 inch pan is about perfect, but pretty much any sized pan will work; smaller pans making thicker frittatas that simply take a few minutes longer to cook.
3. In a large bowl, beat the eggs and mix in the cream/milk, the pasta, the cheese and the salt.
4. Add the egg mixture to the pan and fry for about 2 or 3 minutes, lifting the setting egg occasionally to let uncooked egg flow underneath
5. Transfer the frying pan to the oven, and cook for 5-10 minutes longer, or until a fork inserted into the frittata comes out clean.

This is lovely served with a simple tomato sauce, a little crunchy bread and a mixed green salad in a balsamic vinaigrette.