Picatta Pasta Salad

I'm not fond of eating leftovers, so I remade chicken picatta into a brand new dinner!

This is another one of those 20 minutes or less super fast dinners. Granted you need leftover chicken picatta, but that was yesterday's dinner, and we won't worry about that right now. Live in the moment! Super fast dinner!

Picatta Pasta Salad

• 2-4 pieces of leftover chicken picatta
• picatta sauce
• 2-3 cups cooked pasta
• 1-2 tbsp fresh basil
• 1-2 tbsp green onion (or red if you prefer)
• 1-2 tbsp capers
• 1-2 tbsp artichoke hearts
• 1-2 tbsp sundried tomatoes
• 1-2 tbsp olives
• 1-2 tbsp pine nuts
• 1-2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
• 1-2 tbsp lemon juice or wine
• 1-2 tbsp olive oil

Okay, yes, the measurements are more approximations than anything, but adjust as you need/like/have in the fridge.

If you have leftover pasta, this dish is even faster than 20 minutes. I didn't have any so I needed a few extra minutes.

While the water is coming to a boil, collect all the ingredients, and change out of work clothes.

I like to toast my pinenuts, so I did that in a small dry pan over medium heat. Give the pan a shake from time to time, between ingredient choppings works, and when they're nice and golden, turn the heat off.

As the pasta boils, chop anything you want chopped.

If your pasta is freshly boiled, cool it by running it under cold water.

If you have enough picatta sauce to just use it as the dressing, perfect. Me, I didn't (frankly, I'm not sure there's any such thing as enough picatta sauce) so I extended the dressing with wine and olive oil.

Combine everything in a nice big bowl and stir it gently.

If I had any lemon, I probably would have added a bit of lemon zest as well.

And what do you know, dinner!

How do you get creative with leftovers?

Comments

[Taneasha]

Dude, that is brilliant!

[the recipe guy]

Note that all of these things could be just as easily dumped onto a bed of greens.