I am not one to throw Italian phrases around lightly so understand that sometimes a little bit of Italian is exactly what is needed to give a leftover ingredient a new lease of life.

Maltagliati pasta, which literally means badly cut, is irregularly-shaped pasta of different-sized pieces and originated as the collected leftover pieces from other pastas traditionally made and cut by hand.

So take a quick look in your cupboard and if like me you cannot stand to be without a good stash of pasta, you will possibly have packets of different sizes and shapes and probably not enough of any one of them to make a full meal- this is the magic of Maltagliati pasta.  The problem with using pasta of different shapes and sizes in one dish is that all pastas have different cooking times but bashing up your leftover bits of pasta to make Maltagliati means that you can cook it for the same length of time, meaning you never waste any pasta again.


To make this simply place all of the little bits of pasta into a freezer bag, cover it in a towel and bash it with a rolling pin until you have lots of little bits of pasta.  Store it in a jar and throw it into soups and stews when needed.

This batch of Maltagliati was added to a Tomato, Fennel & Ham Soup that was made with some leftover ham and a stock made from the bone of the whole ham- perfect Waste Not, Want Not food!


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