Pasta with a Quick Sausage Sauce

This may look like a basic ragu, the principal is the same but its actually quite a different flavour from a beef based sauce. I love the addition of the rosemary and the herby taste of the sausages. The recipe is an old one from the River Cafe Cook book,  now I have remembered about it I'll make it more often. I love the Italian name for it "Penne con Sugo di Salsiccie alla Cloe". Comforting, wintery, perfect for a cold January weekend, accompanied with a nice glass of red. Unless you're doing Dry January of course. 

Ingredients
Serves 6
2 tbsp olive oil
2 small red onions, peeled and chopped
6 Italian spiced, fresh pork sausages, meat removed from skins and crumbled (Any sausages will be fine)
1½ tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
2 bay leaves
2 small dried chillies, crumbled
2 x 400g cans of chopped tomatoes
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
250g penne pasta, (more for a larger appetite)
5 fl oz double cream
120g parmesan, freshly grated


Method
In a large saucepan, heat the oil and fry the onion until light brown. Add the crumbled sausage, the rosemary, bay leaves and chilli. Fry together over a high heat, stirring to mash the sausages. Remove all but 1 tablespoon of the fat, and continue to cook for 20 minutes. The sausage meat should become brown and disintegrate. Add the tomatoes, stir and return to the boil. Remove from the stove. Cook the penne in a generous amount of boiling salted water, then drain thoroughly. Stir the cream into the sauce along with the drained penne and half the parmesan. Serve with the remaining parmesan.

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