Tidbits & Thyme: Spaghetti with Crumbled Sausage

So, the other day I was at Central Market waiting a really long time at the meat counter for my turn. As I was standing there, I saw that the spicy crumbled sausage was on sale and I thought, "That would be amazing in spaghetti!!!". DONE! I bought it once my number was finally called, which of course was like 15 minutes later!!! As I was cooking this in the kitchen, it smelled DELICIOUS! Tastes fresh, and is way better than regular old boring spaghetti!

Ingredients:
A carton of cherry tomatoes
4-5 garlic cloves (we love garlic, so if you're not huge garlic fans I would only do 2-3)
A handful of fresh basil
1 lb of ground crumbled spicy sausage
8 oz of spaghetti or capellini
1 tbsp. of oil
1 tsp of crushed red pepper flakes
Salt to taste

Directions:

Go ahead and cook the spaghetti according to the package and set aside. Then,start with the tomatoes and cut them in half.

Move those aside to a bowl until we need to use them!

Now to the garlic cloves! I used about 5 small/medium ones and sliced them up.

Set that aside and move on to the basil. Small tip: I buy my basil for about $1.50 for a massive bunch at Central Market which I've found to always be a better deal than the neighborhood grocery store.

I cut the basil into thin strips. How I do that is by rolling the basil leaves one on top of the other to form a small roll.

First, get the leaves stacked.

Now roll the stacked leaves.

Slice thinly to get the strips.

Easy peasy!

Set the basil aside because you won't really need it until closer to the end. Add the olive oil to the pan under medium heat, and start to saute the garlic with the crushed red pepper.

Once the garlic is fragrant, add the halved tomatoes and simmer on low heat.

In a separate pan, start to saute the ground sausage until slightly browned.

Once the ground sausage has browned, and the tomatoes have started to get a bit pulpy, add the sausage to the pan of the tomatoes.

Stir together and add salt to taste. If you like your noodles mixed in, this is where I would add the pasta to toss with the sauce. Otherwise, spoon this mixture onto the pasta after it has been plated. For less mess, I normally add the noodles straight into the pan!

After I get this spooned into a bowl, I add the fresh cut basil strips right on top!