Italian Meat Sauce For The Slow Cooker

Total Time: 8 hrs 30 mins Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 8 hrs

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 small chopped onion
• minced garlic
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 lb sweet italian sausage (i choose turkey italian sausage as a low fat alternative) or 1 lb mild italian sausage (i choose turkey italian sausage as a low fat alternative)
• 2 (28 ounce) cans crushed tomatoes
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 3 ounces tomato paste
• 1/4 cup fresh italian parsley
• 2 teaspoons dry oregano
• 2 teaspoons dry basil
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 pinch sugar
• salt and pepper
• 1 cup of your favorite dry red wine (shiraz or syrah pairs best with red pasta sauces)

Recipe

• 1 on a large skillet heat oil on medium high heat.
• 2 sauté the garlic and the onion until the garlic is golden brown and the onion is translucent.
• 3 add the meats to the oil mixture to brown them; drain.
• 4 on a slow cooker, combine the meat mixture and the remaining ingredients and set in on low. cook for 8-10 hours.
• 5 if you're in a hurry you can follow the first 3 steps and simmer the ingredients on a sauce pan for one hour.