Makes 4 servings
½ pound (i.e. ½ box) chunky pasta shapes (ziti, rigatoni, fusilli)
½ pound (about 2 links) sweet or hot Italian sausage
1 medium yellow onion, cut into thick strips
1/3 cup Basic Tomato Sauce
1 bunch chard, stems removed and the leaves coarsely chopped, washed and spun dry
Parmesan cheese, shaved into shards with a vegetable peeler (or grated)
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
Meanwhile, squeeze the sausage from the casings into a large heavy skillet. Cook over medium heat until the sausage starts to lose its raw look. Stir the sausage to break it up as it cooks. Stir in the onion and cook until the onion is wilted but still crisp and the sausage is cooked through, about 5 minutes.
Stir the pasta into the water. Stir gently until the water comes back to a boil. Cook, stirring for the first couple of minutes, until the pasta is al dente, 10 to 12 minutes depending on the pasta.
While the pasta is cooking, stir the tomato sauce and chard into the pan with the sausage. Cook over medium low heat until the chard is wilted and bright green. Turn off the heat under the sauce.
Either scoop out a mugful of the pasta water and drain the pasta in a colander or scoop the pasta out of the pot and into the sauce with a spider or slotted spoon. In either case the pasta should be in the pan and some pasta water on hand. Stir until the pasta is coated with sauce. If the sauce doesn’t coat the pasta smoothly, stir in the pasta water a little at a time until it does. Season with salt and pepper and spoon into bowls. Top with Parmesan shards.