Dinner? Already done!

I am such a sucker for winter comfort foods, Italian food is certainly my #1 comfort food for the winter! The other night I decided to use my brand new Crock Pot (Thanks Pete!!) and make some red sauce.  I first pan fried 1 lb of ground hot sausage, which is just so yummy.  Once it was nice and brown, I threw it in the Crock Pot, along with 2 CANS of sauce:

I figured one can wasn't enough, plus, if you're making sauce you should make a lot because it freezes easily. In the mix I also cut up 2 yellow onions, 2 green peppers, multiple 'shrooms, and threw it in the Crock Pot.  I also dumped in a lot of Oregano, Basil, Garlic Salt and Pepper.  I cooked it the night I made it on low, turned it off, and continued cooking it the next day, still on low.  I don't feel you can over cook sauce on low, as the more you cook it the more the flavors mix together.



Sauce Mixture before it began cooking



We ate half, and I froze half.  You can take this sauce right out of the freezer and use it as pizza sauce, or in lasagna...or even baked ziti! Whats so wonderful about this meal is you can easily make it ahead of time.  I like to assemble meals like this on a Sunday night, because you don't really need to cook it until Monday or Tuesday.  I made this with Rigatoni noodles.




1 lb Ground Sausage (hot)
1- 32 oz can Tomato Sauce
1- 26 oz Tomato Sauce
2 Yellow Onions
2 Green Peppers
1/2 pack Mushrooms
1-2 tbsp Oregano
1-2 tbsp Basil
Garlic Salt
Black Pepper
Crushed Red Pepper