Sausage Sauce

INGREDIENTS:

1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil

2 pounds of bulk Italian sausage

1 tablespoon of ground fennel

1 tablespoon of crushed red pepper flakes

1 onion diced

1 fennel bulb-trimmed, cored and finely diced

1 carrot, finely diced

1 cup of celery, finely diced

4 cloves of garlic-crushed

2 cups of tomato sauce

Salt and pepper to taste

Freshly grated Pecorino Romano Cheese

DIRECTIONS:

Sauté sausage in olive oil, brown and transfer to a warm plate.  To the same pan add little more olive oil, add fennel seeds, carrot, celery, red pepper, onion and garlic.  

Cook until vegetables are soft.  Return sausage back to pan, add tomato sauce.  Simmer until  the vegetables are tender and sauce is thickened.  Season with salt and pepper.

In the meantime bring 8 quarts of salted water to a boil, add gnocchi to water.  When the Gnocchi float to the top they are done!  

Toss Gnocchi  gently into sauce.  Top with Pecorino Romano Cheese!

*When I use fresh ricotta, I place it in a paper tower and drain it over a colander up to 8 hours. This will make the cheese firmer and dryer--nicer to work with.