Spaghetti and Red Sauce with Italian Sausage

This is my favorite homemade(-ish; it uses canned tomatoes and sauce) marinara, or Red Sauce, recipe adapted from my Dad's (Chef Love) recipe.  I added the diced tomatoes and red pepper, because I like my sauce a little chunky and a little spicy (kinda like me, ha ha).  

One of Dad's nicknames for me is "Number One", because I am the 1st child, and we loved us some Star Trek: The Next Generation where Captain Picard called First Officer Riker "Number One." Yes, I am a nerd.

Chef Love and Number One's Red Sauce 

1-2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 onion, thinly sliced and diced

2-4 cloves of garlic, minced

1 bunch of fresh basil, chopped (about 1 cup)

2 (14.5 oz) cans tomato sauce

1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes, in juice

1 tbsp crushed red pepper

coarse salt

1/4 c. red wine

Heat olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium to medium low heat.  Sauté onion until transparent (NOT browned), about 5-7 minutes.  Add garlic and 2/3 of the basil, and sauté until basil wilts.  Add tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, red pepper, and the rest of the basil.  Add salt to taste, and simmer on low for 10-15 minutes.  Add red wine and simmer an additional 5-10 minutes.

We had this on Friday night with thin spaghetti and Johnsonville's Hot Italian Sausages that I boiled and then browned on the stovetop. We watched the last two episodes of The Wire, Season 4.

This was so good that we will have the same exact thing tonight (Sunday).  We may grill the sausages since the rain has ended and it is a beautiful Spring evening in Memphis.

"Ahhh, the Calla Lillies are in bloom a-gain!"--Pee Wee Herman

(I already told you I was a nerd.)