Penne with Leftover Beef & Arugula

In the mean time I spend 99 percent of my evenings at home with a home cooked meal. Girls gotta save. Also my son is currently in a “throwing food” stage. I rather avoid hitting the nice lady sitting next to me. And I obviously love to eat at home, or why the hell else would I have started a blog that pretty much only (as of right now) revolves around my eating habits……. 

So today I present to you a meal that actually completely links up to yesterdays post (you can find here) as I am using its leftovers….. however have no fear, you can absolutely make this meal using “day-of” meat but I love to put a fun spin and turn one meals leftovers and transforming it into a completely different dish. This also makes being a single mom (or anyone who runs around like a chicken with their head cut off) a LOT easier since meat is ready to go in the fridge, all I need are the easy add ons. No problem there. 

Whole wheat penne pasta with leftover beef ( in this case yesterdays roast), fresh arugula and a delicious balsamic dressing. It’s delectable. My aunt, also known as the family Martha Stewart, gave me this recipe and it’s been a definite staple in the household. 

The best part about this dish is that it is actually very light, considering that it uses both steak & pasta. The dressing is incredibly airy and the arugula adds a wonderful refreshing crunch to every bite. 

I also love this dish because you can make it in under ten minutes! Especially if you are using leftover steak (or roast in my case) all you need to do is heat up the meat in some butter, boil the pasta and whip up a simple dressing. And you’re done! It’s also great because it can be devoured warm or at room temperature. Perfect for when you’re hosting a large crowd, you’re actually able to enjoy good drinks & friendly conversation instead of the usual “WHAT? What was that!? Sorry I missed what you said. Wait, start over, catch me up!”. Blabber. And you wonder why no one wants to hang out with you. You’ve suddenly become that girl.

Penne with Leftover Beef & Arugula

Prep time:  2 mins

Cook time:  10 mins

Total time:  12 mins

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Ingredients

• 1 lb whole wheat penne pasta
• 2 lb cooked leftover beef (steak or roast), thinly sliced (you may use fresh, just cook to desired temperature and then slice and saute it for about a minute or two in a pan with two tbsp butter)
• 2 tbsp butter
• 4 Cups arugula
• For the dressing:
• ¾ cup reserved pasta water
• ¼ cup Balsamic Vinegar
• ¾ cup Olive Oil
• 2 tbsp Dijon Mustard
• 3 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
• Salt & Pepper to taste

Instructions

1. First you'll need to bring salted water to a boil over high heat. Add pasta & cook for 8-10 minutes (or until desired texture is reached) and drain while reserving ¾ cup pasta water.
2. While your pasta is boiling, heat up your leftover meat in a pan over medium heat with your butter. Once butter is melted and meat is hot, remove pan from heat & set aside.
3. In a small bowl whisk together the balsamic, dijon mustard, parsley and olive oil. Salt & pepper to taste.
4. When pasta is done, In a large bowl, toss penne with the reserved pasta water & dressing. Add steak & arugula and then season again with salt and pepper if need be.
5. Serve warm or at room temperature.

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