Place roughly chopped onion, carrot, celery and garlic in food processor. Process until vegetables are almost a paste consistency. Set aside.

Heat oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium/high heat. Add sausage to pan. Cook, breaking meat up, occasionally, until browned (It does not need to be cooked completely at this point).

Push sausage towards the edges of pan. Add onion mixture to pan. Cook about 5 minute, occasionally stirring. Mixture should begin to brown. Season with salt and pepper.

Add wine to pan. Cook, stirring occasionally, until wine has reduced at least by half (about 3-5 minutes). Stir in tomato paste. Cook 1 minute. Stir crushed tomatoes into mixture and add bay leaf. Bring mixture just a boil and then reduce heat to medium/low. Simmer 25 minutes.

While ragu is simmering, prepare De Cecco rigatoni pasta according to package instructions. Before draining pasta, reserve ½ C cooking water.

Stir drained pasta into ragu mixture. If the mixture seems too dry, stir in small amounts of reserved cooking water, until desired consistency is reached. Stir in cheese.

Garnish with parsley and additional parmesan cheese if desired.

**Note: remove bay leaf prior to serving