16 June 2009

arugula affair

In my last post about the farmers market I failed to mention that I went for one particular item: arugula. I love, love love the stuff. I use in in lieu of lettuce on egg salad sandwiches and I have made this super easy pasta for dinner twice in two weeks now. Everyone loves it and uh, did I mention how freaking easy it is to make?

arugula

Pasta (I used large shells)
Cherry tomatoes (about 1 pound), rinsed and quartered
1/4 cup olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 pound arugula
1/2 cup Romano
Salt to taste (I just generously salt the pasta water.)

Bring a large pot of water to boil. Sprinkle in your salt.

In a separate skillet over medium high heat warm the olive oil. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes. Cook until fragrant, about one minute. Add the chopped tomatoes, cook until softened, about five minutes. Remove from heat.

Add the pasta to your boiling water and cook according to the directions. With about six minutes left in the time, add the arugula to the pot. Reserve half a cup of pasta water, and drain the pasta and arugula.

Turn the skillet with the tomatoes back to medium high, and then toss in the pasta and arugula. Stir together, and cook for a few minutes until warm. Add some of the reserved pasta water if it is too dry. Season with freshly grated Romano cheese.

1 comment:

Jaime said...

Mmmm, that sounds amazing. I heart arugula as well, but we can't get it farmers-market-locally this time of the year in California (it grows like the dickens in the winter here though; I am talking about pounds of the stuff from one plant in our yard). Thanks for the tasty recipe!