Leftover pasta and Spam - this is no April Fool's Joke. This is quick to make and easy to assemble for a delicious lunch or evening dinner. It’s delicious as well as nutritious with all the veggies stirred in.
I always make a little too much pasta for the spaghetti sauce I've created. It sits in the refrigerator, lonely and white, waiting for some saucy color. Sometimes it even gets tossed out before I get around to recreating it into something delicious.
I haven’t had Spam in well over 20 years. When I was a kid, Mom used to fry it up in a pan and we’d have buttered toast with dark spicy mustard for Spam sandwiches. Delicious! I’ve avoided it for many years since it’s so high in sodium and so full of fat. But it can be so good when fried up.
But, this time, my craving for that old-fashioned Spam took over. I remembered that limp white leftover spaghetti pasta I still had in the refrigerator. I also had fresh carrots in the veggie drawer and corn and peas in the freezer. How about a quick warm up of all these veggies with a few cubes of fried Spam? I knew some parmesan cheese would be a nice accent on top with garlic toast on the side.
So, it on my trip to the grocery store that day, I checked out the Spam. I guess I've been so long away from Spam I was confused when I saw all the choices. When did they develop so many different flavored varieties? Low-sodium, low fat, with bacon, roasted turkey, smoked, hot and spicy, lite, classic, maple flavored, etc. I finally found the original Spam I was looking for but opted for the 25% less sodium version. It still offered more sodium than I cared for, but once in a while a person needs to splurge with care.
When I examined the food label, I found that it had well over half of the amount of sodium I’m allowed in a serving, in one serving. How about a half serving of Spam for my adventure with pasta and veggies when I got home. I could include a half serving and still enjoy the great flavor with my veggie and pasta stir together. I was getting hungry.
This recipe serves two.
If you have more leftover pasta, increase the amount of veggies and Spam.
Prepare your cooking pan:
I chose a 10” fry pan for my concoction and sprinkled it with a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil. You’ll need to heat it up to medium.
Gather up your Ingredients:
1-2 C Cooked pasta, spaghetti preferred, leftover is great
1 C Spam, cut into cubes
1 Carrot, fresh, cleaned, medium diced
½ C Peas, frozen or fresh
½ C Corn, frozen or fresh
A few shakes of Parmesan cheese, grated
2-4 Crusty garlic toast rounds
Easy and quick to fry and assemble:
-I like everything to be similar in size, so I dice the carrots small.
-But I keep the Spam cubes a little larger.
-Over medium heat, lace the extra virgin olive oil in the fry pan and pop in the Spam and raw diced carrots.
-Allow the Spam to get lightly browned and the diced carrots to soften a little, turning all periodically. Slide all to one side of the pan.
-Add the frozen peas and corn, being careful not to spatter. Cook and stir periodically until the peas and corn are softened and beginning to get lightly brown.
-Stir the Spam, carrots, peas and corn together, tasting to make sure everything is hot.
-Slide the pasta on top. Cover allowing the pasta to warm through.
-Uncover and stir all together.
-Plate into two large, low serving bowls.
-Shake grated Parmesan cheese over and add a couple of crusty garlic toasts on the side.
-Enjoy!
Sometimes I enjoy this little feast with a small glass of wine.
However you enjoy it, adding shallots, dry white wine in crystal, with your bestie or just for a quick lunch on your own, "Bake your own Memories!"