Meet your new weeknight favorite – Arugula Pasta with Tomato and Pine Nuts. Arugula is just as wonderful cooked as it is raw, and this pasta is my favorite way to enjoy it. The barely cooked, peppery arugula adds brightness to this lightly sauced tomato and arugula pasta with pine nuts. You’ll find yourself making this one over and over again.
Why this Recipe Works
This arugula pasta uses ingredients with a long shelf life, pantry items, and winter-friendly produce, making this dish a go-to pasta year-round.
The arugula is cooked by adding it to a strainer and pouring the cooked pasta over it. This quick-cooking arugula is a great shortcut and keeps the arugula from overcooking and becoming slimy.
The sauce is light but very flavorful creating a hearty, delicious meal that doesn’t leave you feeling heavy.
Ingredients & Substitutions
arugula – a peppery green in the spinach family. You can substitute with spinach for a milder flavor addition.
shallot – a mild onion. You can substitute with half an onion.
pepperoncini – you can find these in the pickle aisle of your grocery store. You can substitute with any pickled peppers.
How to Make this Recipe
Bring a pot of water to boil. In the meantime, start your sauce by heating the olive oil over medium/medium-high heat. Add the pepperoncino, shallot, garlic, salt, and red pepper flakes. Cook until the shallot is translucent.
Add the tomatoes, crushing them in your hand as you drop them in. Also, add the tomato juice from the can. Taste and adjust seasoning. If it tastes too acidic, add a pinch of sugar.
Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to simmer. Cook uncovered until the desired sauce thickness. In the meantime, cook the pasta. Then, strain the cooked pasta. Add the pasta to the sauce.
Add the arugula to your colander and strain the pasta over the arugula. Add the pasta and arugula into the sauce and mix well. Sprinkle with pine nuts and parmesan and serve!
More Delicious Pasta Recipes
Pasta is great for easy, weeknight dinners, and it can be very versatile. It’s easy to get into a pasta rut, but we try to switch it up with recipes like this arugula pasta. Here are some other favorites of ours:
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Arugula Pasta with Tomatoes and Pine Nuts
Print Recipe SaveEquipment
- Colander
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 pepperoncino minced, or other pickled peppers
- 1 shallot finely chopped, or 1/2 onion
- 5 garlic cloves minced
- salt to taste
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
- 28 oz can whole tomatoes
- 3 cups arugula packed
- 1 lb. pasta
- 1/4 cup pine nuts toasted
- 2 tbsp vegan parmesan or regular parmesan, for serving
Instructions
- Bring a pot of water to boil.
- In the meantime, start your sauce by heating the olive oil over medium/medium-high heat. Add the pepperoncino, shallot, garlic, salt, and red pepper flakes. Cook until the shallot is translucent.
- Add the tomatoes, crushing them in your hand as you drop them in. Also add the tomato juice from the can. Taste and adjust seasoning. If it tastes too acidic, add a pinch of sugar.
- Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to simmer. Cook uncovered until the desired sauce thickness.
- In the meantime, cook the pasta. Strain the cooked pasta Add the pasta to the sauce.
- Add the arugula to your colander and strain the pasta over the arugula. Add the pasta and arugula into the sauce and mix well. Sprinkle with pine nuts and parmesan and serve!
We really enjoyed this. I used pickled banana peppers because I didn’t have peppercinis and also didn’t have pine nuts so it wasn’t true to recipe but delicious nonetheless. Gemelli was the perfect pasta for this and I’m sure pine nuts would bring it to another level.