Easy Italian Sausage Pasta with Red Sauce

This is the pasta to make on a night when you want something that tastes like it simmered all afternoon, but you only have thirty minutes. One pan for the sauce, one pot for the pasta, and a result that's better than most jarred-sauce dinners without actually taking much longer.

What You'll Need

Serves 4. Prep: 10 minutes. Cook: 25 minutes.

• 1 lb rigatoni (or penne, ziti — any ridged short pasta holds the sauce well)
• 1 lb Italian sausage, mild or hot, casings removed
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves, smashed
• 1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
• ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (less if using hot sausage)
• ½ teaspoon dried oregano
• ½ cup pasta water, reserved
• ½ cup grated parmesan, plus more for serving
• A handful of fresh basil, torn, if you have it
• Salt and black pepper to taste

How to Make It

1. Get the pasta water going. Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta to just shy of al dente — it'll finish cooking in the sauce.

2. Brown the sausage. While the water heats, warm the olive oil in a deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sausage, breaking it into bite-sized pieces with a spoon, and cook until browned all over, about 6 to 8 minutes. Don't rush this step — the browned bits are most of the flavor.

3. Build the sauce. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds, just until fragrant. Pour in the crushed tomatoes, red pepper flakes, and oregano. Bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat and let it cook, uncovered, for 12 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it thickens slightly.

4. Bring it together. Add the drained pasta directly to the skillet along with the reserved pasta water. Toss over medium heat for a minute or two, until the pasta finishes cooking and the sauce clings to it rather than pooling underneath. Stir in the parmesan.

5. Finish and serve. Taste for salt and pepper, scatter torn basil on top if using, and serve with extra parmesan at the table.

A Few Notes

Reserving pasta water is the one step that's easy to forget and makes the biggest difference — the starch in it is what pulls the sauce together instead of leaving it watery on one side of the bowl and dry pasta on the other.

This scales up easily for a bigger group — just double the sausage and tomatoes and use two pounds of pasta. It also keeps well; leftovers reheat better than most tomato-based pastas because the sausage keeps it from drying out.