Same sheet, different dish: how to use up excess lasagne sheets

<p>Smash them up and put them in soup or serve with pasta sauce, says our overstocked panel of pasta pundits</p><p>• Got a culinary dilemma? Email <a href="mailto:feast@theguardian.com">feast@theguardian.com</a></p><p><strong>I’ve accidentally bought too many boxes of dried lasagne sheets. How can I use them up? <br></strong><em><strong>Jemma, </strong></em><em><strong>by email</strong></em><br>
This is sounding all too familiar to Jordon Ezra King, the man behind the <a href="https://jordonking.substack.com/">A Curious Cook</a> newsletter. “It’s funny Jemma asks this,” he says, “because I was in this exact same situation earlier this year after over-catering for a client dinner.” The first thing to say is there’s no immediate rush, he adds: “It sounds obvious, but you can keep the boxes for a long time.” Fortunately for Jemma and her shopping mishap, however, lasagne sheets are also flexible, and their shape doesn’t have to dictate what you do with them.</p><p>With this in mind, soupy things are good to get on the weekly dinner rotation, be that <em>pasta e ceci</em> or minestrone, the latter being the go-to of choice for Mattie Taiano, chef and co-owner with <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/profile/ravneet-gill">Ravneet Gill </a>of <a href="https://www.ginarestaurant.co.uk/">Gina’s</a> in Chingford, Essex: “Just bash up the lasagne sheets with a rolling pin and chuck in all the bits.” Theo Randall, chef-patron of <a href="https://www.theorandall.com/">Cucina Italiana at the InterContinental London Park Lane</a>, meanwhile, would break the pasta lengthways and cook it in boiling salted water: “Add that to a ragu-like sauce with some of the pasta cooking water and a generous knob of butter. Just make sure you cook the pasta and s