Depending on the dish, leftovers can be both a curse and a blessing. On one hand, leftovers make for delicious food that’s already prepared and ready for further enjoyment. Yet simultaneously, some meals simply won’t reheat into their original glory: prepared burger meat being a prime example. So rather than biting into a dried out patty or throwing out the remnants, consider a creative reapplication.
A perfect fit for reusing burger meat is a bolognese sauce. Like a do-it-yourself spin on a Hamburger Helper variety, the ground beef works perfectly into a pasta sauce for spaghetti bolognese. Different from marinara sauce, bolognese is made from a wider list of aromatics and ingredients, and more importantly, it contains meat. Traditionally, it’s all in the pairing of soffritto carrots, celery, and onions with meat, patiently simmered into an aromatic whole.
So for the fastest shortcut to reuse burger meat, simply reach for a pre-packaged sauce (any simple tomato sauce or even a marinara will do), heat it up on a pan, and break up the burger leftovers before adding them in towards the end of the cooking process. Spoon the sauce onto boiled pasta — alongside tailored fixings like chili flakes, parmesan, and a herb garnish — and you have an easy-breezy weekday dinner.
Incorporate leftover burger meat into spaghetti bolognese for easy repurposing
Although a leftover burger spaghetti bolognese can be a simple assembly of store-bought elements, there’s also room for more chef-driven creativity. The sauce is open to many additions, which can adjust for the fact that the meat’s already cooked. A great starting point is to incorporate more fat, which thereby moistens the dish. While not completely traditional, consider utilizing some bacon in the mix. The cured pork will almost melt into the bolognese, all while imbuing it with its distinct smokey essence. Meanwhile, if you’d like to stick to a more classically Italian palate, reach for pancetta; its flavor will also mingle with the burger bits. And for more liquid richness, don’t forget to pour in heavy cream or milk — dairy will elevate even a store-bought sauce.
You can also curtail dryness while enhancing flavors by using aromatic liquids like wine and chicken broth. Pour what’s left in your fridge into the bolognese; with enough simmer time, the sauce will come together. So with such a meat shortcut on hand, you can add burgers to the list of leftovers to always take from a restaurant — you might even be more excited about the second round.
