First, cook the sausage. The easiest way to do this is boil them for ~10 minutes until they reach an internal temp of 165°F. Once the sausage is done (I'll usually do an entire pack of 5 at once to make it easy) take two of them (or 1 if you're cutting this recipe in half for just yourself!) and quickly sear them in a pan over high heat with a little olive oil. They're already cooked, so you're just looking to get some color on them.
While frying up the sausages, start boiling the water for the pasta. Make sure to always salt your pasta water! Once boiling, add the pasta and stir occasionally to keep it from sticking. After 5 minutes, on another burner add the tomato sauce and sausage cut into pieces (like lazy meatballs!) to a large skillet and set over medium heat. This allows the sauce to get up to temperature just as the pasta is finishing.
After ~8-9 minutes of cooking the pasta, the sauce should be starting to bubble. Turn off the heat for the pasta and strain it, reserving ~1/3 cup pasta water. The pasta may seem under done, but the key to a good pasta is finishing it in the sauce! This helps it really adhere to the pasta, instead of just adding the sauce on top of plain pasta on a plate. Add the pasta to the skillet with the sauce, along with the reserved pasta water and the butter. Stir regularly.
After a few minutes, the butter should be melted and the sauce and pasta well incorporated. Be sure to test the pasta for desired done-ness along the way. Once done, remove from heat and drizzle olive oil on top and mix well. Serve immediately with fresh parsley.
Enjoy!
