Pasta with Bacon, Arugula and Tomato

Sometimes I buy things at the store intending to use them for one purpose, but then plans change and I no longer want to make the original dish. Such was the case with a bag of baby arugula I bought last week. We were going to have chicken stuffed with arugula and some kind of cheese, but then we had occasion to celebrate with dinner out and the arugula remained in the fridge. Since arugula is fragile to begin with, I knew this bag wouldn't last long and so pasta with bacon, arugula and tomato was born.

I diced a few slices of bacon (okay...it was more like 6 slices) and cooked it over medium heat until it just started to crisp around the edges. I pureed a large can of whole peeled tomatoes and added them to the pot. A little less than half a pint of heavy cream went in next, followed by the baby arugula. I cooked a pound of rotelle in boiling salted water and when that was done I added it to the sauce and cooked both together (a very important step). Some grated cheese finished the dish. I also made a quick salad with hearts of Romaine, some grated cheese and bottled Caesar vinaigrette.