This Ina Garten recipe helped me turn one easy lunch into 2 different meals I actually crave — and kept me fed all week

3 hours ago 1

A side-by-side image of tomato-eggplant pasta and an image of a cheesy baked pasta made with tomato-eggplant soup.

I love leftovers, but don't enjoy reheating the same meal over and over again.

I try to get creative and take the meat and veggies from a dinner and throw them into a grain bowl for lunch the next day, but I sometimes struggle to think of other ways to use my remaining scraps.

So, when I found out Ina Garten had what she calls "two-fer" meals — which consist of prepping a big batch of one recipe and then using the same dish as a key ingredient for another — I knew I had to try one.

I jumped at the chance to upgrade my usual lunches with this two-fer combo from the "Barefoot Contessa" — a tomato-eggplant soup for one meal and a cheesy baked pasta for a second.

Here's how the process went.

I cut the soup recipe in half, and still ended up with a ton.

Overhead arrangement of fennel, eggplant, onion, garlic, spices, amber liquid, and tomato cans sitting on a white surface.

The soup looked pretty easy to whip up for a weekday lunch, especially for someone who works from home, like me.

However, I knew just by eyeballing the ingredients — olive oil, eggplant, a yellow onion, a fennel bulb, garlic, chicken stock, crushed tomatoes, fennel seeds, dried oregano, thyme leaves, red pepper flakes, black pepper, peeled tomatoes, and Parmesan cheese — that this would make a ton of soup.

Even though I knew I needed some leftovers for the second recipe, I decided to cut the soup recipe in half. Still, I ended up with a ton of veggies.

I skipped using a food processor, but it didn't seem to affect the recipe.

The writer is mixing tomatoes in a pot with a wooden spoon to make soup.

This recipe was easy enough, with most of the work spent on chopping the eggplant, onion, garlic, and fennel. But to simplify it even more, I skipped the step of crushing the whole peeled tomatoes in a food processor.

Instead, I opted to let the soup simmer a bit longer, then break those tomatoes up with my wooden spoon. They crushed down beautifully and saved me a few extra dirty dishes.

The smell of the simmering soup was irresistible.

A tomato and eggplant soup simmers in a pot on the stove.

My partner is not the biggest fan of eggplant, but even he commented on how good this soup smelled while it simmered away on the stove.

The scent of garlic and sauteed onion filled the air, with spices and chili flakes adding to the aroma.

Overall, this was a delicious, warming soup, but I'd consider blending it up next time.

The writer lifts a spoonful of chunky tomato soup with grated cheese from a ceramic bowl.

This soup tasted just as good as it smelled. All the veggies and seasonings came together in a dish full of balanced sweetness, earthiness, umami, and even a hint of spice.

However, my only qualm was that I wished the fennel flavor were softer. I was getting notes of soft eggplant and tomato, but the fennel still had some bite.

Next time, I might skip the fennel and maybe even blend the soup instead of crushing the tomatoes myself.

I couldn't wait to turn the soup into an indulgent baked pasta.

Overhead arrangement of pasta ingredients with penne, tomato-eggplant soup, grated cheese, seasonings, garlic, and diced butter on a white surface.

I love pasta of any kind, so I was even more excited to transform my soup leftovers into this cheesy baked dish with fusilli noodles.

Garten's recipe was pretty simple: boil the pasta, combine it with the soup, mozzarella, Parmesan cheese, and a bit of salt and pepper, then bake it.

I was blown away that this recipe was even easier than the soup.

Penne pasta with tomato-eggplant soup, mozzarella, and black pepper in a stainless steel mixing bowl.

I preheated the baking dish for about 10 minutes while my pasta boiled on the stove. Then, I mixed the noodles with cold leftover soup in a mixing bowl, along with pieces of mozzarella, salt, pepper, and freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

After combining the ingredients, I poured the pasta mixture into a baking dish, topped it with diced butter, and slid it into the oven.

While it was baking, the whole kitchen smelled like garlic, and I couldn't wait to take a bite.

The pasta tasted delicious, but I'd switch up the mozzarella next time.

Baked penne pasta with tomato and eggplant sits in a white square casserole dish.

The flavor of this baked pasta was amazing. The eggplant and tomato added an earthy sweetness that paired well with the noodles, and the soup's seasoning still shined.

I love cheese, but my only problem with this dish was that the mozzarella melted and then quickly congealed. Next time, I think I'll skip mixing the cheese into the pasta and instead top the whole dish with shredded mozzarella and broil it for a crispy crust.

I can't wait to make this duo again.

The writer is holding a bowl of baked pasta with tomatoes and eggplant.

Even though I made some adjustments along the way to save time, and I'd probably make a few more to suit my taste and texture preferences, I'd absolutely make this "two-fer" duo again.

Both recipes were quick and easy enough to whip up during my lunch break, and both the soup and the pasta made enough to feed me all week long, without ever getting bored.