Spicy Italian Sausage Pasta Sauce

Had some spicy Italian sausage that I had to get rid of before it went bad and came up with the idea to make a meat sauce!! It's super simple - onions, red pepper flakes, crushed tomatoes and an optional splash of cream to make it a little pink! 

I like the meat in heartier sauces to be super fine, so I ended up running it through my food processor to make it super smooth and I LOVED the texture afterwards! So good and I highly recommend.

What you need:

• 1 lb of pasta (if you want to jar half the sauce, just make 1/2 lb pasta)
• 2 tbsp EVOO
• 1 lb ground spicy Italain sausage
• 1 cup diced onion
• 6 minced garlic cloves
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup heavy cream (optional)
• 1/2 cup reserved pasta water
• Parmesan and fresh basil for topping

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What to do:

1. Pour the EVOO into a skillet and cook the sausage until mostly done. Add the onion, garlic, red pepper flakes and tomato paste and cook for a few more minutes until the tomato paste is brick red and the onions are translucent and fragrant.
2. Add the crushed tomatoes to the sausage, season with salt and pepper and mix to combine. Cover with a lid and let simmer for 15 minutes while you cook the pasta. 
3. Optional - add heavy cream to make the sauce pink and a tad on the creamy side.
4. Another option which I recommend doing if you like fine textured sauces: blend the sauce in a food processor to break down the larger pieces of sausage and/or crushed tomato pieces.
5. Mix the pasta into the sauce and serve with parmesan and fresh basil on top!