Orecchiette with Tomatoes, Sausage, and Arugula

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I am not even going to talk about how long has it been since my last post, it's just downright embarrassing. All I can say is I can't believe how fast time flies, or how much my life has changed in the past year or two. 

Little C is a freshman in high school (holy smoke!). He's loving it so far! 

Big C graduated high school last May, and after a short summer break, has started his life at US Naval Academy. It's been quite an adjustment for him, and also for us. Being away from home at (not) college has proven to be a bit challenging for him. Not having him at home makes everything just weird. 

But I believe eventually all of us will get used to the idea that he's a grown up now, and will have to do grown-up things. 

Me, on the other hand, find myself with more time in hand than I know what to do with. So back to my true nature, I cook. And I bake. And realized that maybe I need to start posting stuff on my blog again, and get myself busy, before I get bored and decided to move to Annapolis to get closer to big C (J is really against this idea! With good reasons).

Ingredients:

• 1 lb dry orecchiette, cook according to package direction, rinse and drain, set aside
• 1/2 cup reserved pasta water
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 smoked sausage links, sliced 1/2"
• 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon dried chili flakes
• 2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved (unless they're small, then leave whole)
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan, plus more for sprinkling
• 3 cups arugula
• Salt and pepper

Directions:

• Warm 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add sliced sausage into the skillet and cook until brown, stir occasionally. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
• In a different large skillet, warm the remaining 2 tbsp oil, add garlic and chili flakes. Cook until fragrant and almost brown. Add cherry tomatoes into the skillet, toss until well coated with garlic oil. Cook for about 3 minutes until the tomatoes start to wilt. Add pasta, sausage, and pasta water into the skillet, mix until combined. Next, add grated parmesan into the pasta, stir to mix. Season with salt and pepper.
• Remove the skillet from he heat, gently fold in half of the arugula. Transfer pasta into individual plates, top with more arugula and sprinkle with more parmesan. Serve and enjoy.

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