Cut the cherry tomatoes in half and place them in a bowl with the chopped parsley.  If the cherry tomatoes are very large, you will need to cut them into quarters.

Add the parsley to the tomatoes before cooking them in oil to enhance the flavor of the tomatoes. As the parsley sautes in the hot oil, it will lose some of its flavor.  Do not let the parsley burn.

Thinly slice the garlic or leave it whole but smashed, depending on the degree of garlic flavor you desire, and add it to the room-temperature extra virgin olive oil.  Slowly heat the garlic and oil over a very low temperature so that the flavor of the garlic will infuse the oil as it is cooking.

Note:  Add the garlic to room temperature oil and gently heat them both at the same time because if you heat the oil before you add the garlic, the oil will be too hot and will burn the garlic, making it taste very bitter.

When the oil and garlic are warm and have been gently cooked, add the halved cherry tomatoes, parsley, oregano, green olives, black olives, and rinsed capers to the pan.

Boil the pasta until it is al dente.  Drain the spaghetti and add to the pan with the sauce.  Cook for an additional 2 minutes. Add the arugula leaves to the pasta and sauce just before serving so that it does not loose its flavor in the cooking process.

Drizzle olive oil over the pasta just before serving.

(Recipe adapted from Mamma Agata, Ravello, Italy)

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