Pasta ala Pursuit

With all the excitement of a link from Vodkaboy, the staff here at the Pursuit of Happiness missed posting a Friday recipe. As a result, bonuses have been cut, administrative staff fired, and I'm going to stop outsourcing political analysis to the wacko conservative that has been posting here.

Actually that's not true. We're still going to be your one stop shop for all the conservative political diatribes you could possibly want in one lifetime. That said, we need to correct the recipe sitch.

So here goes....one of my fave pasta recipes because its so easy, so fast and yes soooooooooooo good! Before we get started allow me one speech.

People if you're buying bottled sauce, stop and ask yourselves why? If the reason is speed, then I can assure you, this recipe takes little extra time, and is a taste sensation compared to the tinny, processed sauces produced by Mr. Ragu or Mrs. Prego. Give it a try, and I guarantee that you will pitch the bottle.

Pasta ala Pursuit

Ingredients:

1 pound bulk Italian Sausage - make sure it has fennel
280z can of crushed tomatoes in puree
3 cloves of garlic cut into slivers
2T Olive oil
3 T Dried basil
1T Dried Oregano
2 T Tomato paste

1 pound dried pasta - penne works well with this sauce

Boil water for pasta.

Put large pan on burner over medium heat when it gets hot, add your oil. Once the oil is hot, saute the garlic slivers pressing down to release the oils. When they begin to color, remove the garlic and throw out. Leave the oil in the pan and add the sausage in chunks and brown. Once the sausage has browned, stir in tomatoes and puree. Add paste and spices turn heat to low and simmer for as little as 10 minutes or as long as 30 - the longer the better, just be sure to keep your heat low and stir occasionally.

Once sauce is simmering, boil pasta, make salad, slice some crusty bread and you're good to go.

Serve with grated Parmeseano Reggiano.

vegetarian note: If you're one of those misguided souls who has decided to forego meat in your diet, this recipe works well as a plain tomato sauce when you omit the sausage step.