Prep Time: 35 minutes
Cook Time: 8 hours
Ingredients:
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 carrots, one chopped, one shredded
- 1 (8-ounce) package sliced mushrooms
- 1 green bell pepper, chopped
- 15 oz. can tomato sauce
- 2 (14 oz.) cans diced tomatoes, undrained
- 6 oz. can tomato paste
- 1 tsp. dried Italian seasoning
- 1/4 tsp. pepper
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 2 tsp. sugar
- 16 oz. box spaghetti
Preparation:
Cook onions and garlic in oil in large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Stir and cook for 4-5 minutes until tender. Add carrots, mushrooms and bell pepper and stir. Place vegetables into bottom of 4-5 quart crockpot and add remaining ingredients except spaghetti pasta.Cover crockpot and cook on low for 7-8 hours. Uncover, stir thoroughly, then leave cover off crockpot and turn heat to high. Cook, uncovered, for 1 more hour to thicken sauce.
At this point the sauce can be frozen. Divide into smaller portions and cool in refrigerator. Wrap, label, and freeze the sauce up to 3 months. To thaw and reheat, thaw sauce overnight in refrigerator. Pour into skillet and heat over medium heat, stirring frequently, about 15-20 minutes or until sauce bubbles and is thoroughly heated.
You can even cook the pasta until almost tender and combine it with the cooled sauce. Freeze as directed, and thaw as directed. You may need to add 1/4-1/3 cup water when reheating if freezing the pasta in the sauce. The pasta will be very soft using this method, like canned spaghetti.
Or you can go ahead and serve sauce with cooked spaghetti and grated Parmesan cheese. 6 servings
