So here's what you to with some of the leftover lamb a couple nights later while tired and wondering what to have for dinner.

Pasta with red wine sauce and lamb meatballs

leftover meatballs
pasta
garlic
olive oil
tomato puree/etc
red wine
other vegetables: red pepper, mushrooms
basil, oregano, paprika, salt

I had frozen my meatballs, so I took them out of the freezer to defrost while I made the initial sauce.

Warm olive oil in a wide saute pan; add chopped garlic and soften; add other chopped vegetables and soften. I usually season pretty early in the process, but this time I forgot. I was too busy thinking about how clearly awesome the stuff in the pan was already. Eventually I remembered and added just a little oregano, basil, and paprika.

When everything is soft, add tomato puree, some water to thin things down, and a couple pinches of salt. Also add about half a glass of decent dry red wine. We were having Cicchitti 2006 Sangiovese, from Argentina, so I used that. It was good for drinking as well.

Bring the business to a simmer. If you haven't cooked the pasta already, do it now.

Simmer sauce for ten minutes or so, until the flavors are good and mixed. You can add a splash more water if it cooks down to a thicker texture than you want.

While the sauce is simmering, think about meatballs. I decided to warm mine in a separate pan instead of just chucking them into the sauce, because I was making enough for lunch leftovers and didn't want to deal with having lamb out of the refrigerator for any length of time. So I stuck six or seven meatballs, a splash of water, and a couple spoonfuls of sauce into their own pan to heat through. It would be perfectly fine to just put the meatballs in the simmering sauce, though. It would also mean you have to wash one less pan.

When everything is done, drain the pasta and toss it with the sauce. Add meatballs if you haven't already. Eat it all.

Do not do what I did next, which was to leave a container of leftover pasta out to cool before I put it away, forget about it, and go to bed. I remembered it as soon as I opened my eyes in the morning. Ugh. I mean, I like falafel sandwiches for lunch, but I would've liked my leftover pasta so much better.