Like many great dinners with friends, this one was casual, thrown together with ingredients I had on hand as a late-afternoon girlfriend gab session brushed dangerously close to dinnertime. I cajoled her into staying for supper with the promise of pasta and a delicious salad.

A fresh arugula salad took on an autumnal bent when topped with pears roasted in sugar and butter. More toppings included tart, dried cranberries, lightly toasted pine nuts and freshly shaved Parmesan-Reggiano, all dressed in a vinaigrette made with maple syrup and Dijon mustard. I threw in a handful of fresh, pitted cherries that were lurking in my fridge to remind us it was still summer.

My go-to pasta recipe only requires fresh, homemade pasta (mine is bought in quantity once a month from Mama Gizzi in Greenacres and frozen for nights like this). It’s cooked al dente, then finished in a quick sauce made of butter, good-quality Parmesan cheese and a healthy dose black pepper.

All of it pulled together in a little more than 20 minutes — just long enough for my boyfriend to give her a tour of our new house.

“I’m obsessed with arugula right now,” I told my friend, thinking ashamedly of the multiple bowls of arugula I’d polished off the previous day. Those had been topped with cherries, more Parmesan and lightly-glazed almonds.

“Ah, the fancy lettuce,” the lovely Mary Kay maven from Texas teased me lightly. She loved salads, so I knew she would understand.

Her beautfiul eyebrows raised as she took her first bite of salad.

“This is amazing!” She glanced into the salad bowl and looked at me. “Is it the homemade dressing? Or all the other flavors in it? Why, it just tastes so good!”

I chalked it up to the fancy lettuce — as I helped myself to more.

ARUGULA AND ROASTED PEAR SALAD

I found and adapted this recipe, from Ellen Ecker Ogden’s The Complete Kitchen Garden, on Epicurious.com.

Serves 4

4 firm, almost-ripe pears (Bartlett or Bosc), peeled, cored, and cut lengthwise

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon butter, melted

2 tablespoons pine nuts (I used pumpkin seeds)

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1 clove garlic, minced

Salt and pepper, to taste

1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1/2 teaspoon maple syrup

6 cups arugula or mixed salad greens

2 tablespoons dried cranberries

1/4 cup fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

1 handful of fresh, pitted cherries

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

In a medium bowl, toss the pears, sugar, and butter. Arrange the pears in a single layer in a baking sheet. Bake, turning once, until the pears are barely tender, 10—15 minutes.

Dry roast the pine nuts in a skillet for 5 minutes, until toasty brown. Remove from the heat and set aside.

In a large salad bowl, prepare the dressing by whisking together the oil, vinegar, garlic, salt, pepper, mustard, and maple syrup. Add the arugula or salad greens and toss to coat.

Divide the salad onto four chilled plates. Arrange the roasted pears in a fan around the center, and sprinkle with the cranberries, Parmesan cheese, pine nuts and cherries.