This pasta is flavorful and adaptable

Published 11:41 am Tuesday, January 17, 2012

When you select the right ingredients, it doesn’t take many of them to create a fantastic dinner. Nor much time.

The trick is to pick ingredients with tons of flavor, then let them do the heavy lifting for you. This recipe for spicy sausage and arugula penne is a great example of this approach.

And the recipe is incredibly versatile. No sausage? Used ground beef, pork or turkey. Don’t care for sun-dried tomatoes? Use roasted red peppers. And baby spinach or broccoli would stand in for the arugula.

Spicy sausage and arugula penne

12 ounces penne pasta

1pound spicy Italian sausage meat

1large yellow onion, diced

1/2cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, chopped

15-ounce package arugula

1cup grated Parmesan cheese

Salt and ground black pepper

Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente according to package directions. Reserve 1/4cup of the cooking water, then drain and set aside.

In a large saute pan over medium-high, brown the sausage meat and onion until cooked through, about 10 minutes. As it cooks, use a wooden spoon to break up the meat into bite-size chunks. Add the sun-dried tomatoes and arugula, then toss well. Add the pasta and toss until heated through and the arugula just begins to wilt.

Add half of the cheese and a splash of the reserved pasta cooking water. Toss well, adding more water if desired to create a sauce. Serve topped with the remaining cheese.

Makes 6 servings. Per serving: 490 calories; 190 calories from fat (39 percent of total calories); 22 g fat (7 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 70 mg cholesterol; 47 g carbohydrate; 28 g protein; 3 g fiber; 750 mg sodium.