Sausage (meat or meatless is great, but it definitely needs to be a form of sausage)
& Goat Cheese Penne
one small bulb of garlic (or about 10 peeled pieces)
a smattering of spices (onion powder, garlic powder, basil, oregano)
splash of soy sauce
the doing of it ...
first, fill the large pot with water enough to cook the box of penne pasta (there are instructions on the box) and set the pot on the stove over HIGH heat, drop in about two big spoonfuls of salt and the splash of oil (whatever kind you have is great, olive oil is ideal for this recipe)
once the water is set up, set your skillet on another burner and turn to MEDIUM LOW heat (if your stove top range has a nob to adjust the temperature, and the nob is a clock, you want to set the temperature to about 9 o'clock) and pour the half cup of oil into the pan
while the skillet is warming, slice the pointy top off your onion and then slice your onion in half from pointy top to pubey bottom, peel away the papery skin until you reach skinny white succulence, lay one half of the onion down on its flat already cut side, and slice into thin half circles (I typically go for about an eighth of an inch, but not paper thin), then slice up the other half of onion
once the onion is prepared, throw the onion into the skillet
if your pasta waster begins to boil at any point, turn the heat off, put a lid on the pot and let it sit until we're ready to make the pasta
stir the onions around in the oil, turn the heat up to MEDIUM heat (about 6 o'clock), hot enough to sizzle but not crackle
as the onions cook down, peel and chop your garlic and set aside
you can also open your can of tomatoes (the original recipe I learned was for fresh roma tomatoes, but I find that demanding that ingredient can be a bit pretentious, and I think that canned tomatoes work really well in this dish because the recipe demands time to break down the tomatoes, and so, there's time to work out the canniness of canned tomatoes, etc.)
once the onions begin to smell (when the smell fills the entirety of your living space) turn the heat up a notch above medium (around 7 o'clock) at this point, you need to watch your onions, stir them often, but you also want them to "give up" so let them go on the heat for a few minutes at a time, and then, suddenly, the smell of the onions will become pleasant (I find that this can take up to twenty minutes, cause the temperature needs to be low enough that the onions don't burn) and they will begin to change color, darken
at this moment, add a healthy pinch or two of salt and scoop in the garlic
give the onion and garlic a stir and let simmer for only about five minutes
add the tomatoes and stir again
add the smattering of spices (about a teaspoon of each) and the splash of soy sauce and stir again
turn the heat up to MEDIUM HIGH (about 3 o'clock) until the sauce begins to bubble and then turn the heat down to MEDIUM (about 6 o'clock) for the remainder of the simmering time
after the sauce has been simmering for about ten minutes, return the pot full of water for the pasta to HIGH heat
once the pasta water begins to boil, dump in your box of penne and set a timer for however much time is instructed on the box
after the pasta has been boiling for about a minute or two, give the pasta a stir
while the pasta is cooking, slice up your sausage and throw it into the sauce, let the sauce continue to simmer until the pasta is fully cooked
once your pasta timer has gone off, drain the pasta and then dump the pasta into the skillet with the sauce
mix the pasta well into the sauce
scoop a serving of pasta into a bowl
crumble the goat cheese chunk over the pasta
drizzle a bit of olive oil over the top, crack a little fresh black pepper
serve hot with bread and enjoy!