Real Simple's Marinara Sauce With Sausage and Ricotta

Very easy and tasty basic recipe. I used two cans of tomatoes, minced garlic (in a jar) turkey sausage and low fat ricotta cheese to lighten and simplify the dish. You can use one can of tomatoes, but I like my sauce to have an abundance of tomatoes.

• Ready In: 35 mins
• Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 2  tablespoons olive oil, use 1 T at a time
• 4  garlic cloves, thinly sliced or 1  teaspoon  large minced garlic, from the jar
• 2 (28 ounce) cans tomatoes (whole or diced)
• 1⁄4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1  teaspoon kosher salt
• 1  teaspoon sugar
• 1  lb  Italian turkey sausage, casings removed (sweet or hot)
• 16  ounces  orecchiette (or linguine) or 16  ounces  other small shell pasta (or linguine)
• 1  cup  crumbled low-fat ricotta cheese

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.
2. Add the garlic and cook until golden, but not browned, about 1 minute.
3. Add the tomatoes and their juices, red pepper oregano, salt and sugar.
4. Add other spices to taste.
5. Bring to a boil.
6. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer(crushing to tomatoes with the back of a wooden spoon if using whole tomatoes) until the sauce thickens slightly, about 20 minutes, then remove from heat.
7. While the sauce simmers, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook 1 pound of sausage until no trace of pink remains.
8. Add the sausage to the sauce.
9. Cook the pasta according to the package directions.
10. Drain and divide among individual plates. Spoon the sauce over the top.
11. Top each sauce with 1/4 cup ricotta.