Tomato Pasta Sauce -Crock-Pot

This is a recipe I played with for a while until I could satisfy both mine and my husband’s taste buds. You can easily change this to a tasty vegetarian tomato sauce by omitting the Italian sausage and pancetta.

INGREDIENTS

1 pound GF Italian pork sausage

1/4 pound GF pancetta, diced

1 cup sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil

1 large onion, chopped

5 garlic cloves, minced

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1/2 pound mushrooms, sliced

1 (48 oz) GF can tomato juice

1 (28 oz) GF can crushed tomatoes

3 tablespoons dry red wine

3 bay leaves

1 1/2 tablespoons oregano

1 tablespoon basil

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

DIRECTIONS

If using Italian sausage, remove from casings and cook in a skillet until no longer pink; drain and set aside.

Pour sun-dried tomatoes and oil they are packed in, in skillet; add the onion, garlic, bell pepper and mushrooms. If using pancetta, add to skillet and sauté until vegetables are tender.

Pour into crock-pot and add the tomato juice, crushed tomatoes, red wine, bay leaves, oregano, basil, salt and pepper.

If using the Italian sausage option, add to crock-pot at this stage.

Cook on high setting for 2 hours then on low setting for an additional 3 hours.