What to Do with Leftover Pasta

by Kendra Vizcaino, Epicurious

Gourmet/Yanes,Romulo A Leftover pasta is a constant problem in my kitchen. Since I'm usually cooking for two, I tend to make about 3/4 of a box at a time. This leaves me with small amounts of a variety of different pasta shapes. While it might seem like these spare noodles might end up going to waste, there are a variety of uses for them.

1. Cook them together. If the shapes have similar cooking times boil them all together. If the cooking times vary, add them to the pot of water at the appropriate times for each one.

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2. Make crafts with kids. String tube shapes on thread or twine to make necklaces and bracelets, or glue them onto picture frames and paint them to showcase your favorite photos.

3. Stop salt from clumping. Crush the pasta into small pieces and add them into your salt shaker. The pasta will help break up the salt, as rice does, and keeps it flowing smoothly.

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4. Perk up your soup. Noodles are a great addition to a wide variety of soups and stews, and the recipes need much less pasta than noodle dishes.

5. Create a centerpiece. Mix the pastas together in a large bag and pour them into a decorative vase or a mason jar. Stick some dried flowers in and you've got a creative and unique table decoration that will last for months.

What do you do with your leftover dry pasta?

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