Mushroom Pasta with Sausage, Spicy Chiles, and Burrata

steps

1. Fill a large pot with 1 gallon of water; add 4 tablespoons salt, cover the pot, and bring the water to a boil while you make your sauce. If the water begins to boil before your sauce is ready, turn down the heat, but don’t let the volume of the pasta water reduce by boiling off. 
2. Shape the sausage into a patty; set it aside. 
3. Heat a generous glug of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the garlic and cook gently, breaking it up a bit with your spatula, until it is lightly toasted and fragrant but not at all brown, about 2 minutes.
4. Add the sausage patty to the skillet and sear, smashing the patty down from time to time with your spatula to create a nicely browned crust on the bottom, about 5 minutes.
5. Flip the sausage patty. Add the mushrooms, scooting them around the sausage. Cook, stirring frequently and breaking the sausage into smaller pieces with your spatula, until the liquid released by the mushrooms has evaporated and the mushrooms are tender and slightly browned around the edges, 10 to 14 minutes. The sausage will probably be fully cooked, but it will cook more later, so no worries about doneness.
6. Clear a little space in the skillet, add the tomato paste, and cook, spreading it thinly on the surface of the pan until it toasts a bit, about 30 seconds.
7. Add the chile flakes, then add the crushed tomatoes and their juices, along with the pickled chiles and a splash of their pickling liquid. Increase the heat to medium-high, give everything a big stir, and simmer until the sauce has thickened and concentrated, another 4 to 6 minutes. Slide the skillet off the heat.
8. Bring the pasta water (back) to a boil, add the noodles, and set your timer for 2 minutes less than the shortest suggested cooking time on the package of pasta; this will ideally be 2 minutes before the pasta is al dente. Stir the noodles several times during the first 2 minutes of cooking to prevent them from sticking to the bottom of the pot or otherwise clumping together.
9. When the timer goes off, start tasting the noodles. When they seem like they are 1½to 2 minutes away from a perfect al dente, drain and transfer them to the sauce in the skillet using your preferred method, making sure to reserve at least 1 cup of the pasta water. 
10. Slide the skillet back onto medium heat and finish cooking the noodles, tossing and adding plenty of splashes of pasta water until the noodles are perfectly al dente and the sauce is nicely juicy. If the sauce seems watery, simmer for another few seconds to tighten it up, bearing in mind that the cheese will thicken it.
11. Reduce the heat to very low. Add the 50/50 cheese and toss to emulsify it with the other sauce ingredients, adding splashes of pasta water (or plain hot water, if things are getting too salty) if needed to keep the consistency creamy and prevent the cheese from clumping. 
12. Arrange the burrata in the center of a large serving bowl or platter and give each diner an individual plate or pasta bowl. Pile the pasta into the serving bowl on top of the burrata, let it sit for 30 seconds to start melting the cheese, and then serve right away, making sure the diners scoop out plenty of creamy burrata with their portion.