Crock Pot Spaghetti Sauce

Everything goes into the pot and then you walk away.  Come back
later and your delicious sauce is ready.

In order to cook large batches of sauce for the melodrama audience, I decided to use my crock pot and prepare a batch of sauce per day for a week.  The sauce freezes beautifully.

serves: 16          prep time: about 1/2 hour
cook time: 6 hours

2 pounds New York style Italian sausage
24-ounces mushrooms, sliced  (if you are a mushroom lover like me, I always add tons more)
olive oil, optional
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 large container Prego Heart Smart Italian spaghetti sauce (67 ounces)
1/3 large container of water
1 cup burgundy wine
Shredded Parmesan cheese
Cooked pasta

 

This is my mom's favorite.  And I can't argue with the ingredients.

 

Start by adding the sausage to the pan.
 Fold in the mushrooms a handful at a time. 
They cook down quickly into the sausage.

Saute Italian sausage with the mushrooms in a large pot.  If needed, a splash of oil added to the pan will prevent the sausage from sticking.  Break up the sausage with a spoon or kitchen shears into bite-size pieces.  When the mushrooms are softened and the sausage is no longer pink, add all (especially the juices!) to a 6 quart crock pot.

Mix in the rest of the ingredients - diced tomatoes and their juices, spaghetti sauce, water and wine.  Stir all together well.

Cook on low for about 6 hours.

Each serving provides about 280 calories, 4 grams fiber, 10 grams protein and about 18 grams fat.  Each ounce of dry cooked noodles adds another 100 calories.  We use brown rice noodles for those who need gluten free pasta.  Other choices might include quinoa or corn noodles. 

An optional topping is Parmesan cheese.  Enjoy!

- Kim Fielding