Second Time Around: Bruschetta

So earlier this week I made bruschetta with roasted red peppers, tomatoes, and goat cheese for a small dinner party I was hosting. It was such a hit, I made a second batch for hubby and myself last night (and to save myself some work, I used a can of drained, diced tomatoes–I still think the fresh are better, FYI). I had the last of the bread with the bruschetta for lunch today, but I still had about half a cup of the topping remaining. So I decided to do some creative tinkering in the kitchen to see what else I could come up with to do with it.

Naturally, I wound up making pasta–because, let’s face it, almost everything is good on pasta in some form or another.

Ingredients:

• 4 oz. dried pasta of your choice (I used cavitapi)
• 1/2 cup leftover bruschetta topping
• 1 whole medium zucchini, diced
• 1/2 cup baby portabella mushrooms
• 1 oz goat cheese
• 2 Tbsp light sour cream
• olive oil
• minced garlic

Instructions:

1. Drizzle olive oil in your skillet and heat over medium high.
2. Start your pasta water and salt.
3. Add garlic (your preference–I only used about a 1/2 tsp because there was loads of garlic in the bruschetta topping)
4. Add zucchini and mushrooms.
5. I also had some pre-grilled chicken (one of those rarely bought convenience foods that I don’t suggest–it’s never as good as when you make it yourself, but I bought it for my non-cooking spouse and then he didn’t like it–gotta use it SOMEWHERE) that I needed to use up that I tossed in, but this would be just as good without meat.
6. Dump your pasta in the boiling water.
7. Sautee veggies until zucchini softens.
8. Add bruschetta topping.
9. Turn down heat and add goat cheese and sour cream. Mix until cheese is melted.
10. Add drained pasta and stir well to coat.

It’s not really a pretty dish, but it was definitely tasty.

Printable version.