Tasty Italian

Italian cuisine is something that is very near and dear my heart. Why you ask? Well, I'm 50% Italian and my last name is kind of a dead give-away to that fact. So when I realized that I hadn't eaten a bowl of pasta in say...well... months (!!!), something just had to be done about that.

And since I have this excellent slow cooker that has not seen the light of day in a while, I felt breaking it out would be the perfect opportunity to make a delicious sauce for topping the aforementioned pasta I was missing. And what Italian dish was on my mind? Fettuccine Bolognese

Such a hearty, comfort food dish. And I packed my sauce extra full of vegetables and lean, grass fed ground meat. Result? DELICIOUS! And there are plenty of leftovers for a repeat event. So, if you're craving a warm, steamy bowl of carbs, try this recipe!!!


Print this recipe!

Bolognese Sauce

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound 96% lean ground meat
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1/2 red onion, diced
• 3 garlic cloves, finely diced
• 1 cup carrot, finely diced
• 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup red wine
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 28 oz. can whole peeled san marzano tomatoes
• 15 oz. can chopped san marzano tomatoes
• 15 oz. can fire roasted crushed tomatoes
• 1/2 teaspoon salt 
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 1.5 teaspoon dried basil 
• 1.5 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Directions
In a non-stick pan over medium heat, add 1 teaspoon olive oil and brown meat.

Once brown, put meat into slow cooker. In the same pan, add another 1 teaspoon of olive oil and sauté onion, garlic, carrot, and red pepper until tender and soft. About 10 minutes.

Add balsamic and red wine to deglaze pan and scrap off all of the browned bits off the bottom. Add tomato paste, and stir everything together evenlty. Allow to cook for 1 - 2 more minutes, and then add everything to the slow cooker.

sorry, its not pretty

Take whole peeled san marzano tomatoes, and hand crush each tomato before putting into slow cooker. Then add all of the remaining ingredients into slow cooker and stir to combine.

Cook on high, uncovered for two hours. Then cook covered on low for 6 - 10 hours, or as long as you can. The longer it cooks, the more time the flavors will develop.

Yield: 10 servings