Well it seems, after a bit of searching, there are things you can do. But would you?
The night before last we had one of those leftovers omelettes that some people call frittata and some people call Spanish omelettes. In this house they are a wonderful opportunity to use up leftovers - in this case the veggies from the Sunday roast chicken, plus a bit of bacon, some herbs and baby tomatoes. I'm sure the creators of those original dishes would be appalled, but I'm also sure that lots of people make what could be called loaded omelettes with leftovers from the fridge and heaps of food sites, and writers heartily recommend it as a solution.
Anyway I always have some leftover and this week is no exception. Mostly there is rather less than shown here, and eventually, after languishing for a few days, it gets thrown into the compost. Which makes me feel a bit guilty but not too much.
This time I did mean to reheat some of it for lunch, but when it came to lunchtime I really didn't fancy it, so started to wonder if anyone has any really bright ideas about what you can do. I know that if you have a plain omelette it can be cut into thin shreds - and added to stir-fries but a thicker veggie laden omelette doesn't really lend itself to that treatment does it?
Of course a proper frittata is often suggested as a school lunchbox filler. But then frittatas seem to be rather thicker and rather more solid than what I have here. I think mine leans more to a tortilla. As I took that photo I had a tiny taste from the lefthand side, and I have to say that it didn't appeal. Maybe kids don't like cold frittata either.
So I wondered if anyone on the net had a brilliant idea of what to do with leftover frittata. A difficult search because of course you mostly get how to make frittata with leftovers. Nevertheless I did find a few - well fundamentally just three ideas.
Sandwiches are number one. There seems to be a whole world out there which thinks that you can probably put just about anything into a sandwich and it will taste wonderful. Particularly if you smother it with other things. So here we have one from Kitchn, one from Ree Drummond of Food Network and one, rather more appetising toasted one which uses muffins from Amy Stevenson also on the Food Network website.
Not for me I think, although I could have a go at the toasted one - it wasn't really toasted but baked quickly in the oven. No good for a lunchbox though. Maybe tomorrow.
Salad is number two. Salads are another dumping ground for leftovers aren't they? Well probably not for the whole thing but certainly for part of it. Mind you I only found one recipe - from Taste. Again, not really for me and not just because I'm not a salad fan. Maybe you could deep fry little squares of frittata so that they became croutons? Or bake them? Not just as squares of cold frittata though. Thin shreds?
And last - and I actually think most unattractively - soup from a website called Apron and Sneakers which seems to be mostly Italian food. I suppose the idea here is to make it look like pasta. Though to me it looks just like soggy strips of bread. No, no, no.
None of the more adventurous cooks out there offered anything - not even Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall in his Love Your Leftovers book. He mentioned the stir-fry thing for an ordinary omelette, but as far as frittata was concerned it was just a wonderful medium for leftovers of other kinds. I guess all those more adventurous cooks make such wonderful stuff that they never have any leftovers.
So maybe I should just have a go at reheating some in the microwave tomorrow for my lunch and if that doesn't work, then throw it in the compost. Any ideas welcome. This always happens with my leftover laden omelettes. The problem will occur again.
POSTSCRIPT
August 29. My August 28 post was cut off just before publishing by an electricity outage caused by a tree falling on the power lines and catching fire last night. I cooked dinner by candlelight. Difficult.
2023 - A guru in retro fancy mode
2022 - The guilty satisfaction of empty things - I think I meant 'emptying'
2020 - A lost recipe
2019 - Luxury escaping
2017 - Chips (not crisps)
2016 - Burnt offerings
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