« Recipe: Pasta with Rustic Tomato Sauce »

Pasta with Rustic Tomato Sauce

Yield: Serves 4

 Ingredients 

1 Tablespoon olive oil 

1  large onion, peeled and chopped 

4 large cloves of garlic, peeled and finely minced 

1 teaspoon of dried oregano, or to taste

crushed red pepper flakes, to taste

6 hot Italian sausage, casing removed 

6 plum tomatoes, coarsely chopped

1 large bunch of basil, stems removed

salt and pepper to taste 

1 pound linguine, cooked al dente

Approximately 1/2 cup reserved pasta cooking water

Preparation

Heat oil until hot, but not smoking. Sauté chopped onions and garlic until soft. Sprinkle the red hot pepper flakes and oregano over the onion mixture.  Cook until the spices sizzle and smell aromatic, about 30 seconds. 

Add the sausage to the pan, breaking up the meat into bite size pieces. Brown the meat until completely cooked through.  Drain excess fat from the pan.

Add the chopped tomatoes and basil to the meat mixture.  Simmer on medium high heat, uncovered, until the tomatoes soften, 5-10 minutes. Add the reserved pasta water to the pan and season the sauce with salt and pepper to taste. (The excess liquid will be absorbed by the pasta during the final step.)

Add the cooked pasta to the pan; cook for several minutes until the excess liquid is absorbed.

Serve the pasta with a drizzle of high quality olive oil and grated Pecorino Romano cheese.