-
1
If youre using cooked pasta, chop it up.
-
2
Otherwise, bring a large pot of water to a boil, add salt, and cook the pasta until barely tender, somewhat short of where you would normally cook it.
-
3
Drain and immediately toss it in a wide bowl with half the butter.
-
4
Cool it a bit.
-
5
Preheat the oven to 400F.
-
6
Put the remaining butter in a large ovenproof nonstick skillet and turn the heat to medium-high.
-
7
Add the meat if youre using it and cook, stirring occasionally, until it is nice and crisp, 3 to 5 minutes.
-
8
Combine the pasta with the remaining ingredients, along with some salt and pepper (less salt if you used meat).
-
9
Pour the mixture into the skillet and immediately turn the heat to medium-low.
-
10
If necessary, use a spoon to even out the top of the frittata.
-
11
Cook, undisturbed, until the mixture firms up on the bottom, then transfer it to the oven.
-
12
Bake until the top is just cooked, about 10 minutes.
-
13
Remove and serve hot in wedges or at room temperature.
-
14
Its amazing how close this is to a Chinese noodle cake: Combine the cooked pasta with salt, pepper, and olive oilno more.
-
15
Cook it as you would the panfried noodle cake that forms the base for Shrimp with Crisp-Fried Noodles (page 534) and top it with Fast, Fresh Tomato Sauce (page 606) or any other good tomato sauce.
-
16
Serve as a first course, side dish, or light main course.
