Repurposing Leftovers

After a weekend of cooking every night (stir fry and crab rangoon on Friday, lasagna on Saturday and tacos on Sunday) I faced a week of leftovers on Monday. I've learned that I get a little bit of anxiety knowing I have leftovers sitting in the fridge because I worry it's going to go bad quickly, and I hate throwing food away (I think I got this trait from my dad who tends to take all leftovers from the fridge and make a hodgepodge addition to any meal). But after a few days of doing nothing but reheating meals in the microwave, I missed cooking.

On a related note, I also worry about wasting specialty ingredients. Case in point: the wonton wrappers from last Friday's crab rangoon. We only used half the package for that recipe, and rather than making another batch of crab rangoon tonight, delicious as they were, I excitedly remembered running across a recipe in this month's Cooking Light that used wonton wrappers for homemade ravioli.

To be fair, the wonton wrappers don't completely measure up to fresh pasta. But they are a great shortcut option and the combination of flavors in the filling and pesto are terrific. I'll make these again for sure. Actually, I have about 20 currently setting up in the freezer because there was no way I was going to go through 30 leftover wonton wrappers on my own. The filling was also more than I needed, so I'll probably enjoy it as a side to some meat course this week. The leftovers continue! It's a vicious little cycle, but somebody's gotta eat it.

Shortcut Butternut Squash Ravioli with Pesto
(recipe adapted from Cooking Light)

What you'll need:
1 butternut squash, halved lengthwise and seeded (Easier said than done! This is an exercise all on its own.)
1 tsp. dried oregano
2 tbs. salted butter, melted
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
salt & pepper
30 wonton wrappers
1 egg, beaten
Pesto (1 tbs. per 6-8 ravioli)
Olive oil (2 tbs. per 6-8 ravioli)
Cooking spray

What you'll do:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Coat a foil-lined baking sheet with cooking spray and place squash halves cut sides down. Bake for 30 minutes (or until tender). Allow to cool before scooping out pulp. Mash the pulp and combine with oregano and butter in a bowl. Stir in Parmesan and salt and pepper to taste.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Spoon about 1 1/2 tsp. squash into center of each wrapper. Moisten edges of wrapper with the egg and fold in half to form triangle. Pinch edges together to assure a tight seal. Repeat with remaining wrappers.

When water comes to a boil, carefully drop 3-4 ravioli at a time into the pot. Cook 3 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat pesto and olive oil in a smaller pot. When ravioli are cooked, remove with slotted spoon and place gently into the pot with pesto and gently coat. Repeat with remaining ravioli. Arrange 6-8 ravioli on a plate and garnish with extra Parmesan, if desired. (**If, like me, you don't want to eat all of these at once, place single layer of uncooked ravioli in the freezer until frozen. Store in a plastic bag. Allow to thaw before cooking. Boil for 3-4 minutes.**)