Pasta with Sausage, Tomato Sauce and Basil

I was visiting my parents in Chicago for Christmas and decided to take on the task of making spaghetti one night for dinner. While cooking, my aunt was not too far away watching carefully what I was doing (she said she was trying to get some cooking lessons without having to pay for a class), and as I was going about my usual method of cooking by adding a dash of this and a pinch of that, she would occasionally ask questions to take note of what was going on. My mom was also wandering around interjecting here and there with questions such as, "Are you going to use a whole onion?" or "Are you sure that's enough sauce?" At one point during the process my aunt asked something along the lines of "Is this how you normally do it?"

It was at this point that I realized the answer was no. In fact, I think it's rare that I make a meat sauce exactly the same way as I did it before. Sometimes there's diced onions, shallots or garlic, or there might just be a palmful of garlic powder if that's all I have on hand. Sometimes I use ground beef, sometimes it's sausage (hot or mild), or sometimes even ground turkey. And I must also admit that sometimes I use some random store bought jar as a "starter sauce" upon which I build the flavors instead of starting from scratch with a can of tomatoes. And the herbs and seasonings are all based on a whim! However, there are a couple of things that I will pretty much always add if readily available - red wine and balsamic vinegar. The wine adds a nice depth to the sauce and the vinegar brightens it up a bit while also adding a little sweetness.

Ingredients:

• olive oil
• 1 large shallot, diced
• 1 lb sweet Italian sausage
• 1 cup (or so) of dry red wine (two/three buck chuck will do)
• balsamic vinegar
• 28 oz can chunky tomato sauce
• 1 tbsp garlic powder
• salt and pepper (to taste)
• 1 tbsp dried basil
• grated Parmesan cheese
• whole wheat spaghetti
• fresh basil for garnish

Procedure:

1. Sweat the shallots in a little bit of olive oil and season with a little salt and pepper.
2. Add the sausage and break up with your cooking utensil.
3. After the meat has browned, deglaze the pan with a few swirls of wine from the bottle and let reduce by about half.
4. At this point you can add in a few swirls around the pan of the balsamic vinegar, along with the tomato sauce, garlic powder, dried basil, salt, and pepper. 
5. Let simmer for at least 15-20 minutes (ideally of course), and taste and adjust the seasoning.
6. Once the sauce is to your liking, add the freshly cooked pasta (per instructions on the box) straight to sauce and combine.
7. Mix in as much or as little cheese as you desire and garnish with fresh basil. (Feel free to chop it - I left the leaves whole just for the pictures.)
8. Devour.