- 2 tablespoons olive oil (i just give 2 pours)
- 1 small chopped onion (i’m not big on onion, so i mince the hell out of it so they disolve)
- minced garlic (i just go by visual…it varies time to time, but i like a lot of garlic)
- 1-lb ground beef (i’ll use ground turkey sometimes if i’m going for a bit healthier)
- 1-lb Italian sausage (sometimes i use chicken or turkey sausage)
- 2 (28ounce)cans crushed tomatoes
- 1 (8 ounce)can tomato sauce
- 3 ounces tomato paste
- 1/4 cup fresh Italian parsley
- 2 teaspoons dry oregano
- 2 teaspoons dry basil
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- Couple pinches sugar (this helps cut the acidity)
- Kalamata Black olives… gotta be good olive, the canned ones suck for flavor
- 3-5 artichoke hearts
- a good amount of capers
- Ground pepper for a bit of extra kick
- couple pinches of salt.
Cooking
On a large skillet heat oil on medium high heat. Sauté the garlic and the onion until the garlic is golden brown and the onion is translucent. Add the meats to the oil mixture to brown them; sometimes, i drain the meat, sometimes not. On a slow cooker, combine the meat mixture and the remaining ingredients and set in on low. Cook for 8-10 hours.
Comments:
I’ve cooked it on high for 4-5 hours before…it works out fine, the only difference is that its not as thick. So get it nice and thick it really needs to sit on low uncovered for about an hour.
So you can rush it on high for like 4 hours, and then leave it uncovered on low for the last hour and it’ll start to thicken up. But for the best chunky sauce, cook it on low for about 8 hours and then take the cover off for an hour or more (depending on how thick you like the sauce).
If you plan ahead, the sauce will be much thicker, and better the next day. So if you cook it the day before you want to use it, you’ll be better off.
