What’s in the Fridge pasta is something I make frequently. It’s simple, quick, cost effective and downright tasty. It utilizes miscellaneous ingredients in my fridge. Although it never has the same ingredients, the basic idea is always the same. The vegetable medley will be ready in the same amount of time it takes to boil the water & cook the pasta.

The recipe for what was in my fridge last night:
1 small onion, sliced into thin strips
3 cloves of garlic, grated finely
1 large zucchini squash, quartered & sliced
1 bell pepper, sliced into strips
3 Roma tomatoes, diced
1/8 cup half & half or heavy cream
1/4 cup chicken or vegetable stock
Salt & pepper
Fettuccini noodles, cooked & drained
3 tbs olive oil
Zest & juice of 1 lemon
1/4 cup grated Romano cheese
1/8 cup fresh parsley
3 tbs fresh basil

Cook onions and garlic in hot oil over medium-high heat for about 3 minutes. Turn heat to  medium. Add in tomatoes, cook for 3 minutes. Add in zucchini & peppers, lemon zest & juice. Cook for 3 minutes. Lightly salt each layer of vegetables as you add them. Add in stock, cream & cheese. Cook vegetables to al dente (or almost done, they should have a little crunch left to them).

Turn heat to low. Add in fresh herbs & cheese. Allow to cook about 3 more minutes, then mix in pasta. If the sauce doesn’t flow well with the pasta, add in 1/8 cup at a time of chicken stock or water from your cooked pasta. Lightly salt and pepper just before serving.

You can skip the chicken stock and make it vegetarian. Sometimes I’ll add leftover bacon, or chicken, or a big spoonful of goat cheese or cream cheese. Sometimes it has a lot of vegetables, sometimes not. It’s a dish that you can make you own every time with “what’s in the fridge”.

Enjoy!