Quick Marinara

Daryl and I really do work well together. This started as a quick sauce he would make when it was 'fend-for-yourself-night'. Finally I decided I wanted to give it a try and added a few Tina Touches (TT) to the recipe. The result is a quick sauce, great for weeknight dinners when you don't have the stuff in a jar handy. Because this is one of our creations, I don't usually measure the ingredients.

INGREDIENTS
3 cloves garlic, minced - more or less to taste
Crushed red pepper, to taste
About 1 TBSP Olive Oil
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 TBSP balsamic vinegar, more or less to taste (TT)
1 tsp Italian seasoning, more or less to taste
Pinch or two of white sugar (TT)

Saute the garlic and crushed red pepper in olive oil until the garlic is slightly browned.
Add/Stir in the diced tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, italian seasoning and sugar.
Let cook on a simmer for about 15-20 minutes.
Pour the contents of the skillet into a blender and mix until sauce consistency. (TT)
Serve over your choice of prepared pasta.

NOTES!
Do not seal the lid of the blender, keep the middle plastic piece out of the main cover. Use a paper towel and keep it in place with your hand. The food is too hot to seal that up and could have undesirable results!
Add some chopped onion to the saute step for additional flavor.
The sugar helps to balance out the acidity from the tomatoes and vinegar, you are not using it to sweeten the sauce.
Try using light olive oil instead of extra virgin - extra virgin has a lower smoking temperature so it's not as good for frying/sautes.
Add meatballs (frozen are ok) to the sauce during the simmer stage (set them aside for the blender step). (TT)