Slow cooking is absolutely the way to go for pasta sauces. All that time simmering in the crockpot gives the ingredients plenty of time to meld together and make a velvety smooth sauce.
1 pound ground beef
1/2 pound ground sausage
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 carrot, grated
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 can (28 ounce size) tomato puree
1 can (28 ounce size) crushed tomatoes
1 cup water
salt and pepper, to taste
Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the ground beef and ground sausage. Cook, stirring to break up the meat, until the meat is browned.
Remove the meat with a slotted spoon (leaving the fat in the pan) to the crock pot.
Cook the onion in the fat remaining in the skillet. Cook for 2-3 minutes or until the onion starts to soften.
Remove the onion with a slotted spoon and place in the crock pot.
Add the remaining ingredients to the crock pot and stir to combine.
Cover the crock pot and cook on low heat for 8 hours.
Serve the sauce over pasta, or use in cannelloni or lasagna.
This sauce freezes well.
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reviews & comments
September 30, 2013
The worst thing about this recipe is having to smell it simmering all day long! It's amazing! A wonderful recipe. To Phil who said it got burned in the crock pot. Crocks are meant to cook on low all day long so if yours burns food then it's not a very good one. You need a real crock pot for most recipes to turn out good (and I don't mean crock pot brand - they seem to be the worst from what I hear, I don't own that brand).
December 5, 2007
The next time I use this recipe, I am going to cook it in the crock pot for only 3 hours. The 5 hours of cooking on low gave the sauce a burnt flavor. Ohterwise it was pretty good. I do want to try it again.
Crockpots heat differently (newer ones heat much hotter than older models) so definitely use the amount of time that works best for you.