Sausage & Tomato Skillet with Crispy Parmesan

Italian sausage is broken down and cooked with a fragrant base of onion, garlic, and mushrooms, then simmered with canned whole peeled tomatoes into a thick, savory sauce finished with a golden parmesan crust. The technique draws on the Burmese approach of cooking aromatics until deeply golden in oil before building everything else on top — it gives the sauce a richness that feels a step above a standard sauté. Using canned whole peeled tomatoes (San Marzano work especially well) delivers a sweeter, more consistent, and deeper-flavored sauce than out-of-season fresh tomatoes.

Ingredients

• olive oil or neutral oil – 2 tablespoons
• yellow onion, diced – 1 medium (about 1½ cups)
• garlic, minced – 4 cloves
• ground Italian sausage (sweet or hot) – 1 pound
• cremini or button mushrooms, sliced – 2 cups
• whole peeled tomatoes, crushed by hand – 1 can (28 oz)
• salt – ½ teaspoon, plus more to taste
• black pepper, freshly ground – ½ teaspoon
• dried oregano – 1 teaspoon
• red pepper flakes (optional) – ¼ teaspoon
• Parmesan, finely grated (save a little extra for serving) – ½ cup

Instructions

1. Heat the oil in a large oven-safe skillet over medium heat. Add the diced onion with a pinch of salt and cook, stirring occasionally, for 8–10 minutes until the onion is deeply golden and starting to caramelize. Don't rush this step — the color and sweetness it develops is the flavor foundation for the whole dish.
2. Add the minced garlic and cook for 1–2 minutes, stirring constantly, until fragrant and just beginning to turn golden.
3. Add the ground sausage to the pan. Break it into small crumbles with a spoon and cook over medium-high heat for 5–6 minutes, until browned through. If the sausage releases a lot of fat, tilt the pan and spoon off all but about 1 tablespoon.
4. Add the mushrooms to the pan. Cook for 4–5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they have released their moisture and are tender and lightly browned. They'll look wet at first — keep cooking until the liquid evaporates.
5. Open the can of whole peeled tomatoes and crush them one by one with your hands directly into the skillet (or use kitchen shears to snip them into chunks in the can). Pour in all the juices from the can. Add the salt, pepper, dried oregano, and red pepper flakes if using. Stir everything together and cook over medium heat for 14–18 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes have fully broken down and the sauce has thickened to a consistency that coats the sausage and mushrooms — the extra liquid from the can needs a little more time to cook off. Taste and adjust salt.
6. Position an oven rack about 6 inches from the broiler and preheat the broiler to high. Spread the grated Parmesan evenly over the top of the skillet. Broil for 2–3 minutes, watching closely, until the cheese is melted, golden, and forming crispy patches. Serve straight from the skillet with extra Parmesan on the side.