Is it a pasta or a salad? It's both!

Winter just makes me want to eat hearty pastas and soups all the time. I try to experiment on comfort foods with bold flavors during this time of year. Here is a very simple pasta dish that you can whip up for dinner very quickly. By using fresh ingredients the flavors really pop, you may find yourself cooking this dish a lot after you try it!

ITALIAN SAUSAGE, TOMATO, WILD ARUGULA LINGUINE
Serves 4: 1.5 cups pasta and 2 Tbsp cheese. Adapted from a Cooking Light Magazine recipe.

INGREDIENTS
1 (9 oz) package refrigerated linguine or fettuccine
OR you can use (8 oz) dried pasta, I used dried spinach linguine
1 Tablespoon olive oil
6 ounces fresh Italian turkey sausage
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 pint cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 cups wild arugula leaves, washed (baby arugula leaves are ok but not as spicy)
2 ounces of Pecorino Romano cheese, shaved

DIRECTIONS
1. Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt. Drain in colander over a bowl, reserving 2/3 cup cooking liquid.
2. While pasta cooks, heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Remove casings from sausage. Break sausage into bite-sized pieces and add to pan, cook 3 minutes or until browned, stirring frequently to crumble. Add garlic, cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Add tomatoes, basil, salt and pepper, cover and cook 2 minutes. Mash tomatoes with the back of a wooden spoon to break them up and release the juices. Cover pan, reduce heat to low, and cook 3 minutes. Remove pan from heat.

3. Add pasta, reserved cooking liquid and arugula, toss well. Sprinkle with Pecorino Romano cheese.

This dish rocks!