Pasta with hearty sausage sauce

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 1 small onion(s)
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 cup(s) tomatoes, chopped, fresh or from a can (400 g)
• ½ tsp fennel seeds
• 1 chili pepper(s)
• 1 pinch(s) of sugar
• 2 stalks of fresh basil or parsley, mixed if desired
• 3 sausages, raw, coarse, fresh, depending on size
• 500 g pasta, thick, short (e.g. penne, rigatoni)
• salt and pepper
• Parmesan or Pecorino, freshly grated

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Total time approx. 30 minutes

Pasta with sausage sauce

For the sauce, finely dice the onion, chop the garlic, and sauté in hot oil. Sauté the basil stalks and a few parsley leaves, removing the stalks before serving. Add the tomato flesh and simmer, seasoning with salt, a pinch of sugar, and plenty of pepper. Then add the chopped fennel seeds and chili (fans can finely chop them or crumble dried chili; if you prefer a more conservative approach, leave them whole so you can fish them out later). Squeeze the sausage meat out of the casing and form it into balls (if you’re using Nuremberg sausages, you’ll need more than three). Let it simmer in the tomato sauce for about five minutes. Season the sauce to taste, especially with salt. Cook the pasta in plenty of salted water until al dente, according to the package instructions. Then remove it with a slotted spoon, add it to the sauce in the pan, and mix well. Add some basil and, if desired, some cheese, and serve the remaining cheese separately.