Happy (Culinary) Accidents

Growing up, my mom and I used to play the “refrigerator game”—what can we make for dinner with the ingredients in our pantry.  It inspires creativity and ingenuity, and some of my absolute favorite dishes were invented because it’s all we had in the house.

Last night, I was planning on making baked ziti for dinner, since I had ricotta and mozzarella cheese.  Alas, I ran out of tomato sauce and haven’t made more!  Absent-mindedly tasting everything I had in the fridge, I was suddenly inspired by a surprising ingredient.  I had some left over carrot-ginger soup (less than a cup).  It had thickened after being frozen and vaguely reminded me of a “harvest” lasagna filling.  Inspiration!

I cooked the penne, grated the mozzarella, and spooned the ricotta, but it wasn’t quite right.  I fried up some leftover bacon from the previous night’s BLTs and caramelized some onions.  (I took the liberty of cooking the onions in a little ginger beer for the extra sugar and subtle ginger kick too).  After combining all of the ingredients and baking it to cheesy perfection, I have to say, I was impressed with myself.

Combining each of these ingredients was totally amazing. It was salty, sweet, spicy, and tangy.  I will definitely recreate this dish on purpose!