Spaghetti with Italian Sausage and Arugula

Spaghetti with Italian Sausage and Arugula is a quick but amazing dinner with some of my favorite flavors. To make this lower in carbs, use lots more sausage and arugula and less spaghetti, and personally I would prefer it that way! I’d also use whole wheat spaghetti, but take your choice on that!

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There’s nothing I like much more than Italian Sausage, unless it’s arugula, so it’s easy to see why this recipe for Spaghetti with Italian Sausage and Arugula is one of my personal favorites. And did I mention there’s garlic, a touch of lemon, and freshly grated Parmesan cheese? I love this combination of flavors.

Arugula is definitely an acquired taste, but I love the peppery flavor of the greens that go so nicely with the spicy Italian sausage. I made this recently with Jake to update the photos, and we gobbled it up, even though we’d already tested several other recipes that day and weren’t really hungry. (It’s a tough job, but someone has got to try out the recipes!) Enjoy!

How Can You Make This Recipe Lower in Carbs?

Of course this recipe can be made with zucchini noodles if you’re really limiting carbs. But if you want to use actual spaghetti in a lower-carb version, I’d double the amount of sausage and arugula for this amount of pasta. And I love those ingredients, so I’d prefer that version!

How to make this recipe:

(Scroll down for complete recipe with nutritional information.)

1. I make this with my favorite turkey Hot Italian sausage, but use any Italian Sausage you like.
2. Heat the oil in a frying pan, then squeeze the sausage out of the casing and cook until it’s well-browned, breaking apart with the turner as it cooks.  (Don’t rush this step; browning the sausage adds a lot of flavor.)
3. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt the water generously, and add the spaghetti (about 1/4 of a package for the few servings I made. Use regular or whole wheat spaghetti, or use your favorite low-carb spaghetti) 
4. Cook just until it’s barely al-dente.
5. While the spaghetti and the sausage are cooking, put the arugula into a glass or crockery bowl.  (You can crisp it in cold water first if it needs it, then spin dry.)
6. When the sausage is nicely browned, put it on top of the arugula in the bowl.
7. Add the garlic to the pan and saute about 30 seconds; then add 1/4 cup of the pasta cooking water and lemon juice and cook about 2 minutes.
8. As soon as it’s barely al-dente, drain the pasta well, reserving another 1/4 cup of the pasta cooking water.
9. Then put the hot pasta over the arugula and sausage in the bowl and let it sit for 2 minutes to wilt the arugula.
10. Add the water-lemon-garlic mixture from the pan. Toss the mixture together (with the extra pasta cooking water if you need it.)
11. Serve hot, with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

More Tasty Ways to Use Arugula:

Chicken, Brie, Fig, and Arugula Panini ~ Panini Happy
Arugula Chickpea Salad with Feta ~ Kalyn’s Kitchen
Arugula, Berries, and Goat Cheese Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing ~ The Perfect Pantry
Arugula, Grape, and Shaved Manchego Salad ~ Kalyn’s Kitchen

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Yield: 2 servings

Spaghetti with Italian Sausage and Arugula

Prep Time 25 minutes

Cook Time 9 minutes

Total Time 34 minutes

Spaghetti with Italian Sausage and Arugula is a quick  amazing dinner, use the tips in this post if you prefer making a version that's lower in carbs!.

Ingredients

• 2 links hot turkey Hot Italian Sausage
• 2 tsp. olive oil
• 4 oz. spaghetti (see notes)
• salt, for pasta cooking water (at least 1 tsp.)
• 5 oz. baby arugula, preferably organic
• 1 tsp. finely minced garlic (more or less, to taste)
• 1/4 cup + 1/4 cup pasta cooking water
• 2 T fresh squeezed lemon juice
• Parmesan cheese for serving, preferably freshly grated

Instructions

1. In nonstick frying pan, heat olive oil, then squeeze sausage out of casing into pan and brown well, breaking up into small pieces as it cooks.
2. While sausage is cooking, bring a large pot of salted water to boil.
3. Add spaghetti and cook 8-9 minutes, or until barely done and still *al dente* (with a little bite to it.)
4. Put arugula into large glass or crockery bowl. (You can crisp it in cold water and spin dry if needed.)
5. When sausage is well browned, drain if there is very much fat, then pour sausage over arugula.
6. Put frying pan back on stove, turn heat to very low, add garlic and saute about 30 seconds.
7. Add 1/4 cup pasta cooking water and lemon juice and heat 2 minutes.
8. When spaghetti seems done, scoop out another 1/4 cup of pasta cooking water in case you need it, then drain pasta well and put in the bowl with arugula and sausage.
9. Let sit 2 minutes to wilt arugula.
10. Then add water/lemon juice/pasta water mixture from frying pan and toss all ingredients together.
11. If it seems dry, add a bit more of the reserved pasta cooking water.
12. Serve hot, with Parmesan cheese over top.

Notes

I used my favorite turkey Hot Italian sausage. I like whole wheat spaghetti for this recipe, but use whatever spaghetti you prefer.

Recipe created by Kalyn.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

2

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 463Total Fat: 19gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 14gCholesterol: 54mgSodium: 676mgCarbohydrates: 47gFiber: 3gSugar: 4gProtein: 25g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.

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Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
With turkey Italian Sausage and whole wheat spaghetti, this Whole Wheat Spaghetti with Italian Sausage and Arugula would make a great Phase 2 dinner for the South Beach Diet, maybe combined with something like Absolutely Perfect Restaurant Quality Salad. For phase three you could have a larger serving of spaghetti. For a low-carb meal that would be suitable for Phase 1, replace the spaghetti with zucchini noodles. You could also make this lower in carbs by using less pasta and more sausage and greens.

Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Leafy Greens to find more recipes with arugula! Use the Recipes by Diet Type photo index pages to find more recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to Follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.

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