Splendicious Slow Cooker Spaghetti Sauce

This recipe yields a tangy rich sauce with Italian sausage, mushrooms, and red wine. The sauce is excellent over any pasta.

• Preparation Time: 30 mins
• Cooking Time: 45 mins
• Total Time: 1 hr 15 mins
• Calories: 184 Calories

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon ground white pepper
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 2 tablespoons dried basil
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1 cup red wine
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped
• 1 clove garlic, crushed and chopped
• 3 (14.5 ounce) cans stewed tomatoes
• 1 cup sliced green olives
• 4 teaspoons sea salt
• 1 cup finely chopped sweet onion, divided
• 3 (4 ounce) links Italian sausage links, casings removed
• 1 cup red wine, or more if needed
• 0.5 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 0.5 teaspoon ground cumin
• 0.5 teaspoon Hungarian paprika
• 0.66666668653488 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 0.66666668653488 cup sliced fresh mushrooms

Recipe Instructions

Step 1

Mix together the crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, stewed tomatoes, 1 cup of red wine, green olives, 4 teaspoons of sea salt, basil, oregano, paprika, and cayenne pepper in a slow cooker. Set the cooker to Low.

Step 2

While the cooker is warming up, place 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat, and cook 3/4 cup of sweet onion until the onion just begins to soften, about 2 minutes; stir in 1 clove of garlic. Cook the mixture for 3 more minutes before mixing in parsley and mushrooms. Reduce heat, and simmer the mixture for about 10 minutes. Stir in the brown sugar, and mix to dissolve.

Step 3

While the parsley and mushrooms are simmering, heat 3 more tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat, and stir in the remaining onion and the sausage. Brown the sausage, breaking the meat up into crumbles as it cooks, about 10 minutes; season the mixture with white pepper and cumin. Pour 1 cup of red into the skillet, and scrape the pan with a wooden spoon to dissolve any brown flavor bits into the wine. Simmer for about 10 minutes; pour the sausage mixture into the skillet with the parsley and mushrooms. Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat just until all the ingredients have had time to introduce themselves to each other, about 10 minutes. Pour the sausage mixture into the slow cooker.

Step 4

Cook on Low for 8 hours to overnight. Add more red wine or water if needed to prevent the sauce from getting too thick and burning on the bottom.