EASY PENNE PASTA WITH BALSAMIC SWEET POTATOES, ARUGULA (OR SPINACH), AND PARMESAN

Sometimes my best recipes happen when I have a certain ingredient I’ve been infatuated with but suddenly I want to do something different with it.  A few weeks ago that happened with my favorite Baby Arugula Salad.  Oh yes, I love that baby arugula salad, but that day I found myself with half a tub of baby arugula and a yearning for something different than a salad.
I knew arugula was great with pasta, and I always have sweet potatoes on hand, so I ended up creating this meatless dish that combines sweet potatoes sauteed and glazed with balsamic vinegar, wilted baby arugula, and a generous handful of good quality Parmesan cheese.  This  Easy Penne Pasta with Balsamic Sweet Potatoes, Arugula, and Parmesan was comforting and satisfying on a colder-than-I-might-have-wanted November day.

Ingredients:

• 1 large orange-fleshed sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes (often called yams in U.S. stores)
• 1 T + 1 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil
• 2-3 oz. baby arugula or spinach (or can use other chopped greens, but they will need to be sauteed separately)
• 2 cups (dry) penne pasta (I used Dreamfields pasta)
• 1 T good-quality balsamic vinegar (or a little more)
• salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste (for seasoning sweet potatoes) 
• 2/3 cup coarsely-grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions:

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil for the pasta.  While the water heats, peel sweet potatoes and cut them into 1 inch pieces.  Heat olive oil in a large heavy frying pan (big enough to hold the finished pasta dish) and begin to saute the sweet potatoes over medium heat, stirring occasionally so they don’t burn on one side.
2. When water boils, add the pasta, stir, and let it come back to a boil; then lower the heat to a medium simmer and cook just until the pasta is barely al-dente.  (That was 9 minutes for the Dreamfields pasta I used.)
3. (If you want to make this with kale, swiss chard, or collard greens, they need to be washed, chopped, and then sauteed in additional olive oil in a separate pan, about 10 minutes total cooking time.  Then add them to the sweet potatoes when you add the cooked pasta.)
4. .....................................

for full instruction please see : kalynskitchen.com

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