Creamy Italian Sausage Pasta

Ingredients

• 1 lb rigatoni (or penne, orecchiette)
• 1 lb fresh Italian sausage, casings removed (sweet, hot or half and half)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 small onion, finely diced
• 4 garlic cloves, sliced
• ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 can (28 oz) crushed San Marzano-style tomatoes
• ½ cup heavy cream
• ¾ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus more to serve
• Handful of fresh basil, torn
• Salt and black pepper

Instructions

1. 01

   Start the water. Bring a big pot of well-salted water to a boil. It should taste like the sea — this is the only chance to season the pasta itself.

2. 02

   Brown the sausage hard. Heat the oil in a wide skillet over medium-high. Add the sausage, press it flat, and leave it alone 3 minutes to build a crust, then break it into bite-size crumbles and cook until no pink remains, about 6 minutes total.

3. 03

   Build the base. Add the onion to the sausage fat and cook 4 minutes until soft. Add garlic and chili flakes for 1 minute, then pour in the tomatoes and simmer 10 minutes while the pasta cooks.

4. 04

   Cook the pasta 2 minutes shy. Boil the rigatoni 2 minutes less than the package says. Scoop out a mug of pasta water before draining.

5. 05

   Finish in the pan. Stir the cream into the sauce, add the pasta and a splash of pasta water, and toss over medium heat 2 minutes until the sauce clings. Off the heat, stir in the Parmigiano and basil.

6. 06

   Serve right away. Season with salt and pepper, loosen with more pasta water if needed, and serve with extra cheese at the table.

Larry’s rule: Don't stir the sausage the second it hits the pan. That first undisturbed crust is where the flavor of the whole sauce comes from. Skip the cream and you've got a classic red sausage rigatoni.