It’s Father’s Day weekend. Have you noticed that the ad sales, besides ties and golf equipment, focus on grilling– from new BBQ pits to the latest grilling gadgets? Most clothing ads show gentlemen dressed way too nicely standing at a grill with spatula in hand. What a difference from all the Mother’s Day brunch ads-take mom out for her day and make dad work for his! I guess most dads love an opportunity to fire up the grill and take charge.
At our house, when we grill we always have leftovers. I hate firing up the grill and having the coals still just perfect and stopping. So when our dinner is done, we eat while our next few night’s dinner is cooking. This recipe for pulled pork pasta is one I created years ago for a benefit and is always a go-to with any BBQ leftovers. No pulled pork? Finely chop pork loin, or pull meat from ribs, chicken, or if you have leftover sausage or hot dogs–just give them a whirl in the food processor and use them, too.
This pasta dish gets its flavoring from a compound butter of bourbon and BBQ sauce. Use your favorite sauce but choose the bourbon wisely…wouldn’t want to use dad’s good stuff…unless he’s not looking! Make extra–it is delicious on a steak. The bourbon BBQ pasta is topped with chilled spicy pickled purple onions. It is best to make the onions and the compound butter the night before, but if not, two hours prior to dinner will work, too. This recipe is a surprisingly light pasta for a hot summer night.
Ingredients
- For the butter:
- 1 oz boubon
- 1/2 cup BBQ sauce
- 1/4 cup (4 TBSP) butter
- For the pasta:
- 1 1/-2 cups pulled pork, cold
- 12 oz pasta
- 3 cups Cole slaw mix (or shredded cabbage)
- 3 carrots, shredded
- For the pickled onions:
- 1 small purple onion, sliced
- 1 tsp hot sauce
- 1 TBSP olive oil
- 1 TBSP red wine vinegar
- 1/4 tsp creole or cajun seasoning
Instructions
Put your TO COOK IS TO CREATE thinking cap on: What other BBQ leftovers do you have? Grilled vegetables? Corn? Add them to the pasta, too. Prefer more sauce on the pasta? Just add additional BBQ sauce along with the pasta water and butter. Cheeseaholic? Top pasta with shredded cheddar, Monterey Jack cheese, or even blue cheese. Have some fresh summer tomatoes? Chop and add them. Still have some BBQ meat leftover? Make BBQ Cornmeal Tamales or Potato Nachos:
Crisp leftover baked potato slices in oven or drizzle thinly sliced potatoes with olive oil, season with garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, red pepper (or favorite seasonings). Toss well. Place on parchment lined baking sheet. Bake 450 15 minutes. Flip. Bake 15 more minutes. Top with warmed BBQ leftovers and cheese. Broil until cheese is melted. Top with favorite nacho toppings.
Food Fun: I had fun talking about these Father’s Day BBQ Leftovers on the Big Xtra Hour
Say “B-B-Q” and it gets my mouth watering! Delicious and clever ideas for all of those leftovers. Enjoyed the TV Big X-tra Hour this week. So many ideas for so many meals. Great job Chef Susanne. 🙂