Pasta with Baby Arugula and Italian Sausage

If you're anything like me, you probably have a small collection of odds and ends of pasta sitting in your pantry. Unless you're cooking for a large family or guests, it's rare that you would be using the full package. A fun way to use up small portions of pasta is to combine different shapes for one delicious meal. For this recipe I used up my short ridged pasta, rigatoni and small penne, which best soak up the tomato sauce. The rigatoni takes longer to cook, so I gave it a head start by cooking it about 4-5 minutes before adding the more delicate small penne. Adding some Italian sausage and baby arugula gives you a complete easy meal in under thirty minutes.


Ingredients:
4-6 cups cooked pasta
3 tablespoons extra virgin oil
1/2  chopped onion
1/2 small carrot chopped
1/2 celery stock chopped
1 heaping tablespoon tomato paste
4 cups canned tomatoes
2 Italian sausages (casing removed)
1/2 cup red wine
4 cups baby arugula

In a skillet heat the oil and saute the onions for about 3-4 minutes.Add the garlic, carrots and celery. Continue cooking for and additional 2-3 minutes. Brown the small pieces of the sausages with the vegetables.


  Stir in the tomato paste and continue cooking for a minute or so. Pour in the red wine and allow to reduce before adding the tomatoes.

Pour in the tomatoes and allow to simmer for 10-15 minutes.

 Toss in the cooked pasta and the arugula. The arugula will only  take a minute to wilt and it is ready to serve.

 

Serve with grated Parmesan cheese and a drizzle of extra virgin oil