Italian Sausage in Quick Meat Sauce

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

Sweet Italian sausage links get a hard sear, then finish simmering in a fast ground-beef tomato sauce so all that rendered sausage fat seasons the whole pot. One skillet, pantry ingredients, about 45 minutes — spoon it over spaghetti or soft polenta the way the big family-style spaghetti houses do.

Ingredients

• 1 lb sweet Italian sausage links (about 5-6 links)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 lb ground beef (85/15)
• 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1/2 tsp fennel seed, lightly crushed
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1/2 cup dry red wine or water
• 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
• 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 lb spaghetti
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley or basil
• 2 tbsp butter

Instructions

1. Pat the sausage links dry. Heat the olive oil in a large deep skillet or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the links and brown 8 to 10 minutes total, turning every 2 to 3 minutes, until deeply colored on all sides. They will not be cooked through — that happens in the sauce. Transfer to a plate.
2. Add the ground beef to the same pan with all the rendered sausage fat. Raise heat to medium-high and cook 6 to 8 minutes, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, until no pink remains and some bits are browned. Do not drain — that fat is the seasoning for the whole pot.
3. Stir in the onion and cook 4 minutes until softened. Add the garlic, tomato paste, oregano, basil, fennel seed, and red pepper flakes and cook 90 seconds, stirring, until the paste darkens and smells toasty.
4. Pour in the red wine (or water) and scrape the bottom of the pan hard to lift every browned bit. Simmer 2 minutes until nearly evaporated.
5. Add the crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes with their juice, sugar, salt, pepper, and bay leaf. Bring to a bubble, then reduce to a low simmer.
6. Nestle the browned sausage links back into the sauce along with any juices from the plate. Cover partially and simmer over low heat for 25 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is thick enough to coat a spoon and the sausages register 160°F at the center.
7. While the sauce finishes, bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil and cook the spaghetti to package directions, about 9 to 11 minutes. Reserve 1 cup pasta water, then drain.
8. Fish out the bay leaf. Stir the butter into the sauce until it melts and the sauce turns glossy. Taste and add salt if needed. If the sauce is tighter than you like, loosen it with a splash of pasta water.
9. Toss the drained spaghetti with about 2 cups of the meat sauce in the pasta pot, adding pasta water a tablespoon at a time until it clings. Divide among four warm bowls, ladle more sauce over the top, and lay a sausage link across each. Finish with Parmesan and chopped parsley.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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