Pasta with Sausage, Tomatoes and Cream

By charlotteh371

Pasta with Sausage, Tomato Cream Sauce...One of my favorite dishes to make for friends. Love, love, love, the creamy, salty, garlicky pink sauce...created by sauteing garlic, onion, cream, salt, and tomato goodness. My changes: I use the ground Italian sausage sold without the casings...it saves some time; I use cavatappi pasta...it looks like a twisted penne; this tastes even better the next day; one day, I'm going to add sliced cremini mushrooms; I ALWAYS add more garlic.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon
• olive oil
• 1/2 lb
• sweet Italian sausage link, casings removed,crumbled
• 1/4 teaspoon
• crushed
• dried red pepper flakes
• 1/4 cup
• diced
• onion
• 1 1/2 cloves
• garlic, minced
• 1 (14 1/2 ounce) can
• Italian plum tomatoes, drained,coarsely chopped
• 3/4 cup
• whipping cream
• 1/4 teaspoon
• salt
• 6 ounces
• pasta
• 1 1/2 tablespoons
• minced
• parsley
• grated
• parmesan cheese

Preparation

Step 1

Heat oil in a heavy skillet over medium heat.

2 Add sausage and crushed red pepper.

3 Cook until sausage is no longer pink, stirring frequently, about 7 minutes.

4 Add onion and garlic to skillet and cook until onion is tender and sausage is light brown, stirring occasionally, about 7 minutes.

5 Add tomatoes, cream, and salt.

6 Simmer until mixture thickens slightly, about 4 minutes.

7 (Can be prepared one day ahead. Cover and chill.).

8 Cook pasta in large pot of boiling water.

9 Drain.

10 Bring sauce to a simmer.

11 Add pasta to sauce and cook until pasta is heated through and sauce thickens, stirring occasionally, about 2 minutes.

12 Divide pasta between plates.

13 Sprinkle with parsley.

14 Serve, passing Parmesan separately.