Slow Cooker Italian Sausage in Marinara Sauce

Slow-Cooker Saturday

I never know what my weekends are going to look like, especially in the summer time when there's no real schedule (which I love by the way!).  So lately I'm using my crock pot on the weekend. It's so nice to not have the stress of what to feed the family, yet go with the flow of what everyone wants to do for the day.  If, like last weekend, we decide to take a drive up to the mountain the crock pot can manage itself and we'll have dinner for Sunday ready to warm up in just a moment.  Here I made italian sausage in a simple marinara sauce.  You can serve over pasta or, like I did, on a hoagie roll.

Italian Sausage in Marinara

Marinara Sauce

from Ina Garten

olive oil

1 c onion, chopped

1 1/2 t kosher salt

1 1/2 t minced garlic

1/2 c red wine

1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes

1 T flat leaf parsley, chopped

1/2 t freshly ground pepper

I doubled this recipe and placed the second portion in the freezer for dinner another night.

 

Place chopped onions in a large saute pan with the olive oil and saute over med heat.  I always salt my onions right when I put them in the pan, this helps to soften quickly.

While the onions cook put the tomatoes, parsley & pepper in the crockpot.

When the onions are just beginning to brown add in the garlic and stir constantly for about 30 seconds, just til the garlic becomes really fragrant.  Don't let the garlic brown.

Turn the heat to high and add in the wine, scraping up any bits on the bottom of the pan, let that cook down for about 3 min, or til the wine is almost gone.  This is normally where I would add the tomatoes to the pan to simmer, instead it'll simmer all day in the crock pot.

Now add 2 packages of italian sausage to the pan with the onions/wine, just to brown the meat.  Make sure you use a sausage you like because it'll flavor the sauce as it simmers.  Once the meat is browned place it, along with the onion/wine mix, into the crock pot.  Give it all a big stir, set the heat to low and let cook for a minimum of 4 hours, up to 8 hours.

Enjoy your weekend!