Sauteed Thighs+Linguine

Josh's mom sent home some of her famous tomato sauce.  It's soooooo good and it's soooooo nice to have dinner half made.  All I had to do was come up with a protein and cook up some pasta.  The last piece of Costco meat in our fridge was a pack of chicken thighs... so that's it.  Chicken thighs, whole wheat linguine and some lovely tomato sauce.  Chicken thighs are SUPER flavorful, all you need to do is season them up and cook them off - I like to saute them in a non-stick skillet to get a nice golden brown crust on them and then finish them off in the oven.  With pasta and tomato sauce, I'll do simple smoked paprika, salt and pepper.  I had some arugula, ricotta salata and seedless clementines, segmented into perfect wedges, supremes is what they're called... what a perfect salad.  Here's how to make it...

Chicken Thighs + Linguine with Tomato Sauce
chicken thighs
pack of whole wheat linguine
tomato sauce
basil
smoked paprika
salt
pep
arugula salad (as I described above)

Chicken:
Season your thighs with salt, pep, paprika and set aside for 30 mins.  Get a non-stick skillet over high heat and in a dry pan, saute the thighs on both sides until golden brown - then pop into a 350 degree oven while you cook your pasta.

Pasta:
Get your salted water boiling - drop in your linguine and boil according to the directions on the box.  Drain - put your pot back on the heat and get your tomato sauce heating in the same pot.  Dump your drained pasta back into the pot - discerningly only putting in enough pasta to be coated by the sauce - you can save the rest for pasta lunch the following day (that recipe will follow ;))  Toss your pasta in the sauce, adding a drizzle of olive oil to lube the whole mix.  Chiffonade your basil.  Swirl up your pasta into a big serving bowl - pile up your thighs around the pasta and top with your basil.  Serve your salad along side and... ENJOY!