Pasta with Turkey Italian Sausage, Tomatoes, Arugula, and Ciliegine

adapted from For the Love of Cooking

     

   When Nick and I were both in school or when I was working we took turns making dinner- usually whoever got home first had the job of starting. That meant Nick cooked a few times a week. We ate a LOT of pasta the first 3 years of marriage.       

      It has taken a while for me to build up confidence to make pasta for someone who lived in Italy and is very particular about his pastas. I still don't think I make any pasta as well as he does, but I am not as sheepish as I once was. The pasta snob and I agreed that this was a delicious, light pasta- the tomatoes were so sweet from cooking with the sauce... the bit of spice from the arugula...and the fresh mozzarella (though Nick did say the cheese didn't compare to Italian cheese at all). Lucky for us, we'll be in Italy in 5 months were we'll get to have all the cheese we want-including the mozzarella di bufala I keep hearing about.

Ingredients

1-2 tsp. extra virgin olive oil

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 small/medium onion, diced 

3-5 sweet Italian turkey sausages, removed from casings and rolled into small meatballs

1 cup low sodium chicken broth

1/2 tsp. dried oregano

1/2-1 tsp. dried basil (use more if fresh basil is available)

1  1/2 cups grape tomatoes (halved, if desired)

kosher sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

box of pasta (The original called for linguini- but penne is more toddler-friendly)

1  1/2 cups arugula, roughly chopped

10-12 balls ciliegine mozzarella cheese, halved

Directions

 1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add garlic and onion and sautee for 2-3 mintues. Place meatballs in the skillet and cook for 4-5 minutes. When meat is fully cooked, add chicken broth, oregano, basil, tomatoes, salt & pepper, and stir until all are incorporated. Allow to cook 8-10 minutes, while pasta is cooking.

2. Add pasta to boiling water and cook until al dente. Drain pasta and combine with sauce in a large bowl, tossing to coat. Add the arugula and ciliengini cheese then serve immediately. {If anticipating left overs- only add the necessary amounts of arugula and ciliengini cheese.}