We love this yummy crock pot pasta sauce. Mmm... It's not as "Italian" as our typical pasta sauces - with a husband who served in Italy and a wife who's Italian - but it is super yummy, nonetheless!
3 bell peppers cut into 1" cubes (mixed colors - I don't use green)
1 small onion cut into wedges
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb. hot (or mild, if you're not spicy eaters!) italian sausage (I like to use ground italian sausage with no casings...or you can get links and just de-case them and break them up with a spoon)
1 c. marinara sauce (you can use a jar of sauce, but I make my own - see note below)
1/4 c. red wine vinegar (less)
1 tbsp. cornstarch
1 tbsp. water
Coat your crock pot with cooking spray. Place your peppers, onion, & garlic in the bottom of the slow cooker. Arrange the sausage over the veggies. Combine pasta sauce & vinegar over the top. Cover and cook on low for 8-9 hours or on high for 4-5 (sausage needs to be cooked through and the veggies tender). Skim off any fat from the liquid. Mix cornstarch & cold water in a separate bowl until smooth. Add to crock pot. Cook 15 minutes or until sauce has thickened. Serve over pasta (we also love this sauce over polenta, and it would probably make a pretty dang good sandwich on yummy bread, too).
Sometimes people are intimidated by making their own sauce, so they just use a jar. But you can make a really simple sauce for this - there's so much in this recipe (with the veggies & sausage) that it doesn't need to be ultra fancy. I just use some tomato sauce, a little water, some basil & oregano, maybe a pinch of garlic powder, & we like to add red pepper flakes too (we LOVE spicy). In this case, I just throw them all into the crock pot, and after it's cooked quite a while I stir it all up. Once everything's ok for the taste-testing, I adjust my spices.
Si mangia! (Essentially 'let's eat' - said before every meal in our house!)
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