• 1 lb dried pasta, something short with nooks and crannies for cradling the sauce is ideal, i.e. Pipe Rigate or Lumache, Creste di Gallo, Fusili, Cascatelli, or Campanelle
• 2 tablespoons + 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil, divided
• 1 lb fresh Italian sausage, preferably half spicy and half mild. Use fresh links and remove from casing or bulk ground.
• kosher salt
• 1/2 large yellow onion, diced
• 3 garlic cloves, diced
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 lbs cherry tomatoes, kept whole
• 3-4 sprigs fresh basil for cooking, plus more for serving

‍

Crisp the sausage + cook the aromatics

1. In a heavy bottomed dutch oven or large pan, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Add the ground sausage, break up with a wooden spoon, and cook until lightly browned, about 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Once golden brown, remove sausage from pan and set aside - you'll add it back to the pan to cook down with the tomatoes later.
2. Add few glugs of olive oil to pan, add onions, and season generously with kosher salt. Stir to combine and saute the onions for several minutes until soft, stirring occasionally to lift up the caramelized brown bits in the pan.
3. Add the garlic, and saute until fragrant, about a minute. Add tomato paste and give everything a big stir to combine the mixture. Cook for 1-2 minutes, until the whole mixture starts to caramelize. Season generously with salt.

Cook tomatoes down + finish the sauce

1. Add cherry tomatoes, 1/3 cup olive oil, and 3-4 sprigs fresh basil to pan. Season generously with kosher salt. Keep on medium to low heat for 15 minutes, being sure to gently crush some of the tomatoes with a wooden spoon to help them break down.
2. Add the sausage back into the pan and cover with lid. Continue cooking on medium to low heat for another 20-30 minutes, until tomatoes have broken down more and the mixture becomes saucy. You'll want to gently crush any tomatoes that haven't broken down at this point. While the sauce is cooking down, bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil.

Cook the pasta + serve

1. Cook the pasta just shy of al dente, it'll finish cooking in the sauce. Once cooked, reserve a cup or so of the starchy pasta cooking water and set aside - you may want to use it later to loosen up the sauce. Transfer cooked pasta to sauce and fold to combine. Taste and adjust for seasoning. If you want it a little saucier, add a splash of pasta water.
2. Divide into bowls and top with lots of fresh basil. It's pretty rich as is, so I don't think grated parmesan is totally necessary, but feel free to add it, it'll be delicious either way.