My kids requested spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. Feeling the need for comfort food, I was happy to oblige. However, the fact that my outdoor thermometer read 95 degrees (in the shade!) had me second guessing the request. The thought of having the stove going for hours made me cringe. So I experimented. I went for my Crockpot without a recipe.
Summer Spaghetti Sauce
Ingredients:
3 cloves garlic
1 onion
2-3 28 oz. cans whole peeled plum tomatoes, partially drained
Italian seasoning
1 4 oz. can of tomato paste
A handful of fresh basil
What’s Next:
Place onion and garlic in a food processor and pulse about 12 times.
Saute onion and garlic in a pan with a little olive oil until soft. When done place in slow cooker.
Empty cans of tomatoes into food processor (one at a time) and process until smooth.
Add tomatoes to slow cooker.
Add Italian seasoning.
Cover and cook on high for 4 hours.
During the last 1/2Â hour of cooking, add a handfuls of fresh basil (or more if you want) and leave the top about 1/3 off the slow cooker. This will allow the sauce to thicken a bit.
Notes from my experience:
What I love about this recipe is that there was virtually no mess on my stove, and no splattered sauce anywhere.
Also, it could cook and I could leave the house without turning the sauce off and then on again like I would have to if it were on the stove.
An important note about taste: this was perfect for summer. The flavor was lighter than the result of all-day stove-top cooking and the fresh basil (straight from my herb garden) added wonderful flavor. So, I think this will now be my Summer Spaghetti Sauce!
