Perciatelli with Sausage and Kale Ragu

I had some leftover hot Italian sausage and wanted to make a cozy, hearty pasta to help fight off this Polar Vortex. To add some semblance of healthiness, I threw in some kale. I made a really tasty ragu and served it with perciatelli - a great, hollow noodle like bucatini - good texture, but you can use whatever pasta you'd like. This is an easy and really great sauce, and a nice, cheap dinner,

Served 2-4
Ingredients:
1/2 lb perciatelli
4 links hot Italian sausage, removed from casing
1 tbsp olive oil
1 yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 bunch kale, rinsed, dried and ripped into bite sized pieces
4 slices pickled peppers, chopped
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
1 1/2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 28 oz can whole plum tomatoes in their liquid
1 cup chicken stock

Directions:
Heat the olive oil in a large saute pan. Add the onions and sausage and break the sausage up with the back of a wooden spoon.

Once the sausage browns and the onions are soft, add the garlic, fennel, and pickled peppers.

Stir the garlic until fragrant, 1-2 minutes. Add the kale handfuls at a time until it's all wilted.

It will shrink down a lot.

Add the vinegar to scrape up any brown bits at the bottom of the pan. Then add the tomatoes and their liquid.

Using the back of your spoon, break up the tomatoes into chunks. (You can do this before you put them in if you prefer.)

Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Bring down to a simmer and season to taste with salt and pepper. Let it simmer for 45 minutes to an hour to thicken up.

Season again with salt and pepper. Bring a large pot of water to a boil with plenty of salt. Cook the perciatelli 10 minutes/until al dente. Add the pasta directly to the saute pan.

Heat the sauce and the noodles over medium until it thickens up a bit and really coats the pasta.

Isn't it pretty?

Serve it with plenty of grated pecorino or parm.