Busy, Busy. Busy.

   I have been so busy lately that there hasn't been much time for creative cooking.  However, last night I had no choice.  My wife was working late so Simon and I were on our own for dinner.  I was hoping for a simple trip to a restaurant, but Simon said he wanted to go home and have dinner.  Most of the stuff we had planned for the week was too big of a meal to fix for just the two of us so we had to make something up.  The only thing you can EVER count on Simon eating much of is pasta, so that and a little from our basket and we were off to cooking.

Pasta with Sausage and Arugula

2 Sweet Italian sausage links (casing removed)
1/2 medium onion
1/2 red bell pepper
2 cloves minced garlic
5 medium tomatoes (diced)
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 cup chopped arugula
1/2 tsp Berbere spice (Ethiopian hot pepper spice)
1/4 tsp Mekelesha (I will talk about this below)
1/4 cup red wine
1 tsp red wine vinegar (only if your wine is a bit sweet as mine was!)

   I am not going to tell you how to boil pasta, but do that while you do the sauce.  I started by sauteing my sausage in a little olive oil.  I then removed it from the pan and sauted my onion, and peppers in the leftover fat until soft and then added in my garlic, tomatoes and wine.  I cooked this a little and then added my basil, berbere and Mekelesha.  Mekelesha is an Ethiopian spice blend that is a bit tough to find.  It is however, Delicious in red pasta sauces.  Check out this website to buy Ethiopian spices: http://www.ethiopianspices.com/index.asp  I know it has some cinnamon, nutmeg, and maybe some cumin in it, but I wouldn't guarantee anything.  Season with some salt and pepper and puree with a stick blender. Add back in your sausage after blending.  Right before you add the pasta (after cooking it) toss in the arugula and a bit of parmesan cheese.  It is delicious.  As you can see by the photo above.....Simon loved it!