How to Cook Italian Gravy with Sausage in a Slow Cooker
For our series of Recipes Kids Should Know Before Leaving Home, here’s one for how to cook Italian Gravy (or sauce) with sausage in a slow cooker. I learned this version from my friend Rana DiOrio.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds uncooked sweet or hot Italian sausage
- 1 yellow onion, chopped (Rana uses 2 onions, I actually only use 1)
- 1 orange bell pepper, chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- 1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
- 2 bay leaves
- 4 cloves of garlic, minced or pushed through a garlic press
- One 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes (San Marzano if you can find them)
- 1/2 cup dry red wine
- 1 tablespoon dried parsley
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 4 fresh basil leaves, or 2 Trader Joe’s frozen basil cubes, or 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
Instructions
1. Put half of the chopped onions in the bottom of a slow cooker. Layer half of the bell peppers on top of that.
2. Put a large skillet on the stove and turn on to medium-high heat (around 7 on a dial that goes from 1-10). Let the pan heat up for about 3-5 minutes. Add a bit of oil to the pan and swirl it around.
3. Add the whole sausages to the pan and cook for about 5 – 10 minutes, rotating the sausages very couple of minutes until the outsides are nice and browned. Remove sausages from the skillet and put in the slow cooker on top of the first layer of onions and peppers.
4. Return skillet to stove and reduce heat to medium (5 on a dial that goes from 1-10). Add the canned crushed tomatoes, red wine, parsley, oregano, basil, garlic, salt and pepper to the skillet. Mix well. Turn off the heat.
5. Add the other half of the chopped onions to the slow cooker on top of the sausages. Then add the rest of the bell peppers on top of the onions. Place the bay leaves on top.
6. Pour the tomato mixture on top of the sausage, onions and peppers in the slow cooker. Put on the lid and cook for 7 hours on “Low.”
7. When cooking time is done, remove the bay leaves. Taste the sauce and add salt and/or pepper if needed.
8. You can serve the sausages whole with the gravy or you can remove the sausages, slice into discs, then add back into the gravy, stir, and serve over pasta.