An Easy Dinner Using Leftovers!

Tonight I created a yummy dish utilizing leftovers, a pantry staple and a few things picked fresh from the garden.  When I looked around tonight thinking about what to make for dinner I remembered I had about 11oz of ground beef in the freezer left over from homemade burgers earlier this week and a small amount of Italian sausage from making homemade pizza a few days ago.  I also a had a small amount of fresh picked grape tomatoes from the garden.  I got to thinking and instantly knew I could make a meat sauce.  I also knew I had a whole plethora of fresh herbs from the garden at my disposal.  Here is a quick and simple recipe.

The left overs I had were 11oz of lean ground beef and 1 1/2 Italian sausage links





On hand I had fresh genovese basil, oregano, greek oregano, thyme and garlic. I always try to use fresh herbs when possible.  Obviously if you dont have all or any, dry herbs can be used. 

 

In a saute pan I browned the ground beef in a little olive oil with fresh garlic.  When the beef was browned I I crumbled in the sausage.

Once all the meat was cooked I removed and drained the meat and put it aside in a bowl

At this point I put a pot of water on and once it boiled I added some rigatoni I had in the pantry.  Obviously a recipe like this can be altered in many ways and you can choose what ever kind of pasta you have or prefer.

After wiping the saute pan clean I added some Olive Oil, chopped fresh herbs, grape tomatoes and a little salt.  I sauteed them over a low heat until the skins of the tomatoes began to crack.  

 

Once the garlic began to brown and the tomato skins cracked, I added a can of tomato sauce puree. I added a dash of salt and a pinch of salt to taste as well as a dash of cracked red pepper flakes.  Using my wooden spatula I also applied pressure to the tomatoes to break them down a little further.  After that I added the meat to the sauce and allowed it to cook for a few minutes.

After the sauce began to simmer I removed it from the heat and used it to top off my rigatoni.  After adding a small amount of fresh Romano cheese on top I had a perfectly De-Lish dinner!

 

Have any other ideas for making a dish with these ingredients?