Ingredients

• 3 pints cherry tomatoes, stemmed
• Non-aerosol cooking spray
• Salt and pepper
• 1 pound of hot Italian sausage or 1 can 14 ounces chickpeas/garbanzo beans 
• 2 tablespoons EVOO
• 1 red onion, finely chopped
• 4 large cloves garlic, chopped or grated
• 1 tablespoon Calabrian chili paste or 1 t red chili flakes
• 1 teaspoon fennel pollen or ground fennel
• ½ cup red vermouth or red wine plus 1 t sugar
• 1 cup cherry tomato passata or passata or tomato sauce 
• A small handful of basil leaves, torn  
• About ½ cup heavy cream
• 1 pound casarecce or other short cut pasta 
• 1 cup grated pecorino cheese
• Chopped parsley and/or fennel fronds to serve

Directions

Heat oven to about 480 F, rack one above center.

Heat a large pot of water to boil for pasta.

Line a large baking sheet with parchment and top with tomatoes, spray with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Roast for 15 minutes, turning once to char, remove from oven.

Remove casing from sausage and brown and crumble in small nonstick pan sprayed with olive oil over medium high heat, reserve or, drain a can of chickpeas for meat-free preparation.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat with EVOO, 2 turns of the pan. Add the red onions and season with a little salt, soften 2-3 minutes, add garlic, chili paste, fennel and stir 2 minutes more, add vermouth or wine and sugar and let absorb until 3-4 T remain, 1 minute.  Add roasted tomatoes and passata, sausage or chickpeas and reduce heat to low.       

Add salt to water and boil pasta 1 minute less than package directions. 

Add torn basil and cream to pasta sauce.

Reserve ½ cup water from pasta when it’s almost cooked to al dente then drain or use a spider to transfer to sauce.   

Toss pasta and sauce together with grated cheese and use the pasta water if it becomes necessary to loosen the sauce if the dish looks too tight or not saucy enough.  Top with parsley and/or fennel fronds and serve.