Tri Color Pasta With Tomato & Basil Meatballs
By: Chef Tolini for Al Fresco Chicken Sausage
It is a crime to skip the meatballs in your homemade pasta recipe. Tri Color Pasta With Tomato & Basil Meatballs remains innocent and has everything your heart can desire in a pasta dish. Garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, fresh arugula; it has everything!
Notes
Serve with your favorite aratisan bread. Optional - offer pesto or shaved parmesan cheese as a topper.
Serves6
Preparation Time20 min
Ingredients
- 12 ounce package of al fresco tomato and basil chicken meatballs
- extra virgin olive oil cooking spray
- 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (divided)
- 1 tablespoon fresh garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoon dried pine nuts
- 1/4 cup sundried tomatos, chopped
- 1 cup pinto beans, drained rinsed
- 1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 1/2 ounce fresh baby arugula leaves measures about 4 cups
Instructions
- Cook the tri-color bowties (farfalle) in a large pot of boiling water according to package directions. Drain & reserve 1 cup of pasta liquid.
- Heat a large skillet over medium high heat, coat with pan spray and 1 tbsp of the extra virgin olive oil. Saute the garlic and pine nuts, stirring rapidly for 45 seconds (be careful not to burn).
- Add the al fresco Tomato & Basil Chicken Meatballs. Cook for 2 minutes, and add the cup of reserved pasta liquid. Lower heat to medium.
- Add the sun-dried tomato slices, pinto beans, black pepper and salt, simmer 2 minutes. To the skillet, add the cooked bowtie pasta, and toss the ingredients together. Cook for another 2 minutes.
- Just before serving, toss in the baby arugula, give a careful stir to incorporate, and heat through for just 1 minute.
- Serve immediately on a warmed platter and drizzle with the remaining 1 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil.