Stanley Tucci's Quick One-Pan Dinner Breathes New Life Into Leftover Pasta

The clean-out-the-fridge foodie Stanley Tucci strikes again. Having already gifted us quick and easy leftover dinner ideas like his Farfalle pasta bake and his quick-and-easy Bolognese sauce, the actor and Italian American food star couldn't help but share another wonderful pasta creation with his Instagram followers.

In a recent video, Tucci's daughter giggles behind the camera as he explains his newest concoction of leftovers.

"There was this leftover pasta, casarecce, which actually means 'homemade.'" Casarecce are short, curled pasta noodles with slender pockets perfect for catching oils, sauces and seasonings. You can give casarecce noodles a try with Tucci's method or with recipes like our Caprese Pasta Salad with Salami and Make-Ahead Chicken Pasta Salad.

Tucci then explains, "I had some leftover cannellini beans with onions and garlic, and I just tossed it all together with olive oil and a little bit of parmigiano." In the Instagram video, Tucci forked a casarecce noodle to give us a look at how "creamy and viscous and delicious" the dish really was. With sauce dripping to the floor, it's needless to say we were mesmerized.

He goes on to describe the dish as "so easy and so simple," assuring us that anything goes—even putting aside the plates and eating it straight from the pan.

Aside from looking absolutely dreamy, the addition of cannellini beans (which have 5 grams of fiber per serving) gives this meal a nutritional boost. The comment section also chimed in with other simple ways of spinning the dish like adding chickpeas or fresh parsley.

We'll continue to stay tuned for more of Tucci's easy dinner ideas. But if you want a written recipe similar to Tucci's that will still have you scraping the plate (or pan) for more, you can try our Spinach, Lima Bean & Crispy Pancetta Pasta made with delicious pecorino and shallots.

You can also make our Creamy Spinach Pasta with White Beans for a richer taste of Gruyére and garlic.