Slow-Simmered Meat Sauce with Pasta
Mafaldine is a flat noodle with ruffled edges. You can substitute spaghetti.
Mafaldine is a flat noodle with ruffled edges. You can substitute spaghetti.
This is a really solid meat sauce. I'd love to keep some on hand in the freezer all the time. I have a 4-quart slow cooker, so I cut the ground beef down to 3/4 lb and the sausage (chicken hot Italian sausage) to 4 oz, but I think the full recipe would've fit just fine in my smaller cooker. Anyway, the decreased amount of meat suits my taste just fine. Used dried oregano and basil that cooked with the rest of the ingredients.
This meaty pasta sauce was perfect. All the flavors were just right. I didn't have to add anything after the 8 hour slow cook. I invited a couple friends over for dinner, and they couldn't get enough! We found ourselves eating seconds of the sauce all by itself. Instead of the pasta suggested by the recipe I used cheese tortellini. Once again thank you Cooking Light...
I made this last night for dinner and served it over medium shell pasta. I followed recipe except to use regular tomato products ( I like to use San Marzano tomatoes, and couldn't find those salt free) and chicken Italian sausage. The different sausage cut fat and calories, and no one noticed the change. I was able to just add a pinch of salt instead of the full teaspoon since I didn't use salt free tomatoes. I did end up adding a little more oregano, a splash of balsamic vinegar and a sprinkle of fresh parsley before serving. The dish came together very easily and was very good. Next time, I might even double the recipe to freeze for future quick dinners.
I made this for a dinner party and everyone liked it. I prepped everything the night before and threw it in the crock pot in the morning. Next time I make it for our family, I am going to put 1/2 the amount of ground beef in it as it was a bit heavy for us. I am also going to add a tiny amount of fennel seed to increase the flavor of the Italian sausage. All in all, I think it is a good solid recipe that's pretty easy to make.
Excellent. Used fresh tomatoes out of the garden
Very good. I substituted hot Italian turkey sausage and ground turkey to make it even leaner. Tasted great. Very satisfying
Delicious with good, hearty flavor. Super easy prep. Used what we had on hand whole wheat spaghetti. Freezing the rest for another day. Great find!
yum- and super easy. Prepped the night before and left it cooking all day while at work.
Good recipe, even though I forgot to add the oregano! I used sweet Italian sausages as my kids don't like the spicy ones. Good flavor. Very thick sauce. Also used the wheat rigatoni (a 16 oz box was a bit too much...maybe do 12 oz)
A new family favorite this is the 2nd time I am making and I have decided to double the recipe to keep some in the freezer. I used the left over sauce to make lasagne and it was amazing!
I never had a mythical Italian grandmother who always had a pot of the world's best red sauce slowly simmering all day on stove, so I suppose this will have to provide me with the next best thing. This is such a wonderful sauce with a terrifically deep, hearty flavor. Total prep was a little under an hour for me, including clean up, and the rest of the time was just letting the sauce cook. I also added 3 TBSP of oregano instead of the single TBSP, which didn't even seem to register. Oh, and the final amount is wrong. This makes about six cups of sauce. I couldn't find mafaldine, so I just used rigatoni. Definitely a keeper to make again.
Delicious! Best slow cooker pasta sauce I've made! It was really easy, with little cleanup. I made did the prep and precooking the night before and put in the slow cooker in the morning. I did use fresh oregano and that plus fresh basil really brightened the flavors. I did substitute spaghetti since I could not find the other kind. I will definitely make this again. It makes a lot so it would be a great, easy recipe for a crowd. Served with garlic baguette, green salad.
I halved this for smaller crockpot. Used 20oz spicy turkey sausage (no sirloin). Used 28oz crushed tomato, no sauce, dried italian seasoning (not oregano). Left the cover off for 1 hour at the end so it would reduce. Even better leftover.
Very easy recipe that yields something much better than mere pasta & meat sauce. I substituted whole wheat rigatoni as the pasta with great results. May add diced chili peppers next time.
This was very good! It was tasty and easy. I too used dried oregano. The sauce seemed to be missing something, to give it that needed pop.I just don't know what it is. It made plenty of sauce to freeze for leftovers. I served with fresh whole wheat fettuccine, and roasted asparagus. I will definitely make again.
Quite enjoyed this recipe. The only thing I didn different was that I used dried oregano. I made this up the day before and put it in my crock the next morning. No rushing...loved it!!! I used whole wheat spaghetti instead of the mafaldine pasta (as it was not available) A good sturdy recipe...taste good...but not quite up there for that "special occasion"!!