Easy Pasta Sauce
Last night my wife was out with some friends, so I asked my daughters what they wanted for dinner. "Pasta, Daddy, Pasta."
I asked them if they wanted me to make a sauce, but they just wanted butter and grated Parmesan cheese. I gave them what they wanted with some carrots, and they were happy.
I wanted a sauce with my pasta but something extremely quick, easy and delicious. The refrigerator had some sweet Italian sausage and sweet grape tomatoes, so I had the basis for a good sauce.
I would make my Quick Pasta with Tomato Sausage Sauce for the family, but since the kids only wanted butter, I only needed a sauce for one.
I remember a chef once told me about making fast, delicious sauces, "Keep it stupid simple," he said, or maybe it was, "Keep it simple, stupid."
Not sure now. But I remember him telling me that sometimes the simplest dishes he makes for his customers are his most popular.
This sauce is straightforward, but I was surprised how incredibly delectable a little sausage, a dozen or so grape tomatoes, some high-quality extra virgin olive oil, some grated Parmesan cheese, and a little salt & pepper can be.
The trick to this dish is the olive oil. You can purchase various qualities of extra virgin olive oil; I purchase a big jug of it at Costco that I use in many ways, but I wanted to use an extra special high-end extra virgin olive oil for this sauce.
For this sauce, I used fresh Tuscan-style olive oil. It is not cheap, but I use it sparingly as a dipping sauce or for sautés like this. You can find plenty of excellent olive oils at your own favorite market, and one of these days, I'll work on an article about the differences between olive oils.
📖 Recipe
Simple Pasta Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- Pasta amount to be determined by your appetite and if you are feeding some to your kids with butter
- 2 sweet Italian sausages
- 10 - 12 sweet grape tomatoes cut in half
- 3 - 4 tablespoons good quality extra virgin olive oil
- Freshly grated Parmesan cheese - to taste
- Salt & pepper - to taste
Instructions
- Bring a pot of water to boil.
- Add a pinch of salt to the water and then your pasta. See my tips on cooking pasta.
- When the water comes to a boil, add your pasta, stir immediately and cook to al dente. Be sure to stir frequently to prevent the pasta from sticking.
- While the pasta is cooking, heat a saucepan over medium-high heat and squeeze the sausage meat out of the sausage skin into the saucepan. Break it up with a wooden spoon into bite size pieces. Brown the sausage meat until cooked through.
- Add the tomatoes and cook with sausage meat for a few minutes. Add the olive oil and stir to coat the meat and tomatoes. Season with a little salt & pepper. Cook for an additional minute or two.
- Drain the pasta and add some of it to the saucepan. It is easier to add more pasta if you have enough sauce than take it away if you don't have enough sauce. It really doesn't matter because the sausage and tomatoes are going to give the olive oil a lot of flavor and the oil should coat a decent amount of pasta.
- Serve the pasta topped with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.
You are going to be surprised just how good this simple pasta dish tastes. You're going to wish you made more for leftovers.
Some of My Favorite Pasta Recipes
- Discover the Rustic Charm of Tuscan Pici Pasta
- How to Make a Basic Orzo Salad
- This Is How to Make Spicy Ragu Sauce Over Pasta
- Cavatelli Pasta
- Cavatelli Pasta with Spring Peas and Pancetta Recipe
- Bucatini all'Amatriciana Recipe
- How to Make Strozzapreti Pasta with Guanciale Sauce
- Rigatoni with Mushroom Sauce Recipe
Oswaldo
Your article on differences between olive oils would be very interesting since I haven`t found much information on it.
I have enjoyed your website for over two years. CONGRATULATIONS!
tracy famous
I would also like to read an article on olive oils.
Gail
Great post on simple, easy and quick pasta sauces. I read/enjoy your site as it’s a good bit of information from a regular home cook / chef with good skills and taste buds! LOL
If you cut up a shallot (or 2 scallions) and sautéed it, the flavor would have gone off the chart. I make sauce for one all the time, simple, last minute idea (no time to defrost my sauce stash) as my husband isn't home for dinner (executive chef; always busy working at dinnertime). I also smash open and roughly cut a clove of garlic. I cook the veggies, including the tomato, shallot or scallions, cocktail tomatoes and garlic clove in olive oil just until it breaks down; add the shrimp, chopped meat, sausage (removed from its casing) sometimes a small chicken breast or boneless thigh chopped into the just cooked veggie "base". It’s always delicious, very easy and 5-7 minutes tops - serve with any pasta. You’ll amaze yourself!
Love an article on Olive Oils...there are zillions at my local Whole Foods, Central Market upscale stores, even in the regular supermarket...
Kathryn Respess
Great blog post, I bookmarked your blog post so I can visit again in the near future, Thanks
Arnette Polian
Thanks so much for this. This might sound weird, but I spent the first few years of my life in Rome, then traveled all over the world. Now I'm living in New Zealand, with my Chinese wife, and son we had whilst living in Japan! Truly internationalized, eh? Anyway, I've been trying to rediscover the smells and tastes of my youth with some authentic Italian recipes like these, best I've found so far! Thanks again, I'll see if I can add the feed to my Google reader tonight, though my son usually does that for me!
Hey Arnette, thanks for sharing. - RG