Stir Fry Your Leftover Pasta for a Crispy Treat

My first thought after eating a mound of stir-fried leftover linguine was, “I need to do this more often.” Rice noodles, in any manner of preparation–soaked, fried, or tossed in soup–make up a large portion of my diet, but when I cook boxed semolina or durum wheat pasta, I tend to think of it as boiled or bust. This is folly. Pan frying Italian pasta opens up a brand new world of flavors and textures. Grab yourself a box of spaghetti, and let’s make a bangin’ stir fry.
Although you can stir fry freshly boiled pasta, I like to use leftovers. I always seem to boil too much pasta for any given dish, so leftovers are inevitable. Cooked pasta also dries out in the fridge, even when covered, so getting a lovely crisp in a pan of butter happens much faster. The appeal of frying your pasta is in the unique texture that develops. The wheat pasta absorbs water when you boil it, and as you fry it, the parts that are in contact with the pan lose their water to evaporation, and they crisp. The texture isn’t hard, like uncooked pasta, but aerated from the water gained and lost. It almost gives a crisped rice vibe. Of course, you’re only doing a quick fry, so the other parts of the pasta remain soft and chewy, and this contrast of textures is quite fun to eat.
Stir Fry Your Leftover Pasta for a Crispy Treat