Pasta with Sausage and Tomatoes

We're having Italian for dinner tonight.  We haven't had pasta for a while (I don't think macaroni and cheese from a box counts).  This dish looks hearty and satisfying.  Hopefully everyone will think it's molto bene!  

Ingredients (recipe from Italianchef.com.)  

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium sweet onion, diced

1 pound sweet Italian sausage meat (stuffing from 4 links)

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

salt to taste

1 35oz can of imported Italian tomatoes

6 fresh basil leaves

1 pound mezzi rigatoni

Directions

Heat olive oil in a medium sauce pan over medium-high heat. Add onion and sautè, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon until softened and translucent, about 5 minutes.

Add sausage meat, red pepper and salt to taste. Cook, stirring occasionally until sausage is browned approximately 10 minutes.

In a large bowl, crush the tomatoes with your hands then add them with their juices to the pan. Add 1/2 cup of water and bring to a simmer. Turn heat to low and let simmer until thickened, about 45 minutes. At the very end of cooking, tear 2 of the basil leaves into pieces with your hands and stir into the sauce.

While sauce is cooking, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and add the mezzi rigatoni. Cook uncovered over high heat until al dente.

Drain the pasta and toss with half of the sauce. Dish pasta out into individual serving plates, top with a little more sauce, garnish with the remaining basil leaves torn by hand and serve. Serves 4-6

I used mezze penne instead of mezze rigatoni and I couldn't find imported Italian tomatoes.

I had just put the sauce together.  It still needs to simmer for 45 minutes.  I used all the sausage (5 links) and almost all of the two cans of tomatoes (28 oz. each).

The Results...

This was molto bene (very good)!  The whole family liked this one.  My husband has traveled to Italy and he said this was very similar to a dish he ate there.  We found a new family favorite.  Buon Appetito!