Italian Sausage Penne

This is a quick and simple meal to prepare if you have unexpected guests and only have a short amount of time. Last night, I only had about forty-five minutes to prepare and had to send the kids out to their school functions after dinner.  With a couple of their friends suddenly showed up, I had to come up with something quick.  I saw this dish from TV not too long ago and tried it for the first time.  We all loved it.

Ingredients:

2 TBSP Olive oil
5 Fresh Italian sausages
2 Plum tomatoes, peeled and slice to cubes
1 Bunch arugula, rinsed and spun dry
1/2 cup White wine
1/2 to 1 cup Pasta water
1 TBSP Butter dip in flour
1 Box (14 oz.) Penne or other tubular pasta
1/2 Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese

Directions:

1. Bring a pot of water to boiling.
2. Cook penne according to package instruction with salt until al dante.
3. Drain and transfer the cooked penne into a serving bowl.
4. Heat oil in medium saute pan, saute sausage for 2 to 3 minuter or until partially cooked.
5. Add arugula and saute until wilted.
6. Add tomatoes, wine and enough pasta water to make a sauce, stirring to combine.
7. Add butter and flour and stir to thicken sauce.
8. Pour the mixture on top of cooked penne.
9. Sprinkle some pasmesan cheese and serve warm.

Note:

I found the dish tasted better when you let the pasta sit a little longer in the sauce and serve with hot sauce.  You can use mild flavor of Italian sausage if you don't like hot and spicy food.

For more healthier meal, I use multigrain pasta with ALA  Omega-3. You can also skip the butter.  I didn't have arugula at home. I chopped up a bunch of romaine lettuce instead. I would add more lettuce next time.

The pasta water helped thicken the sauce. When adding flour, be sure to constantly stir the sauce to thicken it.