Last night I decided to rehabilitate the decidedly disappointing chicken from Friday night (“Not all kitchen experiments turn out well“) using ingredients we happened to have on hand.

So while we had an artichoke cooking, I stripped most of the remaining meat off the chicken, and set it aside.

Then I checked the refrigerator, and pulled out some watercress that didn’t fit into the salad on Saturday night, a red onion, garlic, anchovies, olive oil.

It doesn’t get much simpler than that.

When the water for the pasta was near to boiling, I started cooking.

I first chopped the onion and dropped it into my favorite cast iron frying pan, with some olive oil, of course. Then added the pasta to the boiling water, set the timer for 9 minutes. I added the garlic to the frying pan, and followed with the chicken, stirring to keep it from burning. Then the chopped watercress stems, followed by the leafy parts. Most of a bunch of basil. Oh, did I mention the hot peppers? Then anchovies, and a bit more olive oil from the anchovy can. It all came together well, and right own schedule.

I really wasn’t sure about the watercress-pasta-garlic combo, but the tastes actually all worked well together.

A bit of Italian cheese grated over the top, washed down with a glass of Shiraz, and that nice plump artichoke on the side.

I’ll have the leftovers of this leftover meal for lunch today.