I recently hosted a housewarming party and ended up with plenty of leftovers. I’m not usually enthusiastic about reheated food unless I can get creative with it. My brother’s fiancée makes an incredible warm spinach and artichoke dip, so when I noticed a good amount left over at the end of the night, I was thrilled.
The next day, while rummaging through the fridge at dinnertime, inspiration struck: why not turn that dip into a pasta sauce?
I wasn’t sure what to expect, so I started simply. I added the dip to a hot, oiled pan and broke it up, letting it warm for three to four minutes. I always keep a bottle of white wine near the stove for cooking, so I poured a little over a quarter cup into the pan. Using a wooden spoon I continued to break up the dip and stir in the wine.
I let the mixture simmer gently for a few minutes on low heat to cook off the alcohol and to make sure the sauce didn’t burn or separate. The wine helped mellow and loosen the dip into a saucy consistency that clung nicely to pasta.
I’m a fan of Trader Joe’s flavored pastas, and my pantry almost always contains spinach-and-chive and garlic-and-herb linguine. For this sauce, I chose the spinach-and-chive linguine to complement the flavors in the dip. I cooked the pasta according to package directions, then tossed it with the warmed spinach-artichoke sauce until everything was evenly coated.
The result was simple, comforting, and delicious—proof that spur-of-the-moment cooking can be the most satisfying. I hardly follow recipes; I prefer to cook by feel and taste, and this dish came together perfectly that way.
With more leftovers still on hand the following morning, I toasted slices of leftover beer bread, reheated some of the artichoke dip in a skillet, and topped it with a fried egg. It was almost as good as the pasta and made for a great second-day breakfast.