Pasta with cheese sauce

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 400g pasta
• Cheese leftovers
• Crème fraîche
• cream
• Ham, salami or sausage leftovers
• Peas or mushrooms from the can
• 1 egg yolk or 2
• Herbs, fresh, if available

Instructions

Working time approx. 15 minutes; Total time approx. 15 minutes

Recycling leftovers

Once or twice a month I look in the fridge and notice: there’s some leftover crème fraîche here, some half-used cream from last Sunday’s roast, the cream cheese is just scraps, the one corner of spreadable cheese, the last slice of processed cheese, the lonely slice of ham, and the teaspoon of grated cheese probably won’t find a taker either. Time for pasta with cheese sauce. Cook the pasta. I always put water on and then start on the sauce; when the pasta is ready, the sauce is ready too. Melt all the leftover cheese in a saucepan, perhaps adding milk to make it a little thicker. I always have canned peas or mushrooms at home, and I add a can of those to the sauce. Chop up any leftover ham, salami, or sausage (or even the last sausage from the can that my son kindly left over) and let everything warm up slowly. Season to taste; it also depends a bit on the cheese in it. It’s especially delicious with herb cream cheese or a few fresh herbs (basil, chives, etc.). Finally, whisk one or two egg yolks and stir in. Pour the mixture over the pasta; it always tastes good and is incredibly filling.