Pasta with Salad and Sausage

Thanks to Midlife Mama, I stumbled on a really good, really simple, recipe last week - which we had for dinner last night. It's basically a green salad, generously dressed with olive oil and lemon juice, and tossed with sausage and hot pasta. Yes, the greens wilt some, but not completely, though I suspect the greens would make for nasty leftovers.

The recipe is originally from Epicurious; I tweaked it a little:

Pasta with Salad and Sausage
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
salt
pepper
1 pound sausage*
About 12 cups of loosely packed greens (a salad's worth)**
1 pound pasta***
Parmesan cheese, shaved into strips

1. Whisk oil, lemon juice and garlic in small bowl to blend. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
2. Cook sausages over medium heat until browned and cooked through, turning frequently, about 20 minutes. Using tongs, transfer sausages to paper towels and drain; cut into 1/4-inch-thick rounds. Combine sausage rounds and greens in large bowl.
3. Meanwhile, cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until al dente. Drain well.
4. Add hot pasta to bowl with sausage rounds and greens; toss until greens begin to wilt. Mix in dressing to coat. Divide pasta among bowls. Top with cheese and serve.

* I used a chicken sausage that was in the freezer, but sweet or hot Italian would work too.
** I used half romaine and half arugula, both of which stood up to the heat of the pasta well - other greens, like spinach or leaf lettuce, would be fine too, but would wilt more.
*** The recipe called for spaghetti, but next time, I'll use a short pasta like rotini or wheels - I hate eating spaghetti!

I set aside a handful of slices of the cooked sausage, and a portion of the cooked plain pasta. Miss M. had the sausage alongside pasta with butter and parmesan for dinner.