Giada De Laurentiis Says This Is The Perfect Sunday Supper

Giada De Laurentiis may seem like she's on top of the world most days, but she's had her share of missteps. She doesn't always come across as all that likable onscreen, such as in one awkward television appearance on Ellen DeGeneres' show. Her marriage didn't work out, nor has her career as a restaurateur been an unmitigated success. In a more recent misstep, De Laurentiis managed to alienate — or at least irritate — some of her Instagram followers by showing off her fancy new pool furniture in a fairly blatant display of wealth. Still, it's easy to forget about her less than popular side when she sticks to talking about food and sharing recipes, such as the "classic" pasta sauce she discussed in one of her latest Instagram posts.

De Laurentiis, who hails from Rome, offered some ideas for using a sauce from the northern part of Italy, bolognese sauce, in other dishes besides pasta. She says her bolognese is not only the perfect topper for a plate of Sunday night rigatoni, but also makes, as she puts it, "a great sauce to repurpose into all sort of meals once the week begins." If you find yourself with leftover bolognese after Sunday supper, here's what De Laurentiis says to do with it.

De Laurentiis' Instagram video, shared in more detail on her lifestyle platform called Giadzy, condenses four different recipes into less than a minute of footage. The first way she suggests using bolognese is to "eat it with pasta ... obvs!" (Although she's no millennial, De Laurentiis is fluent in abbreviation-speak and exclamation points.) Her second idea involves cutting the tops off of and removing the "guts" from several bell peppers, then filling them with a mixture of bolognese sauce and rice. She then sprinkles cheese over the top and bakes these at 450 degrees Fahrenheit "until hot & bubbly."

De Laurentiis' third idea for bolognese repurposing involves using it to top polenta. The sauced-up cornmeal concoction then gets drizzled with olive oil, sprinkled with freshly grated parmesan cheese, and finished with a sprig of fresh basil. De Laurentiis' final suggestion involves using the bolognese as a pizza sauce, but not for a standard Margherita-type pizza. Instead, she tops her crust with blobs of ricotta and bits of broccolini, then spoons on the sauce in between the ricotta islands. The pizza is completed with shredded mozzarella and dried oregano before baking.