Home Made Spaghetti Sauce In The Crockpot

If you've ever wanted to make your own spaghetti sauce and freeze it (or can it) here is rich, thick, delicious sauce that can be made in your slow-cooker. There are several things to love about this recipe, first- you don't have to have access to "fresh" tomatoes as it uses canned. That's not to say

 that you can't use home canned tomatoes if you'd prefer. 

Secondly, it's a very 'forgiving' recipe, the seasonings can be altered to your taste preference and if you accidentally add "too much", you can fix it easily by simply adding 1 more can of tomatoes.

You'll Need:
4 28-ounce cans whole tomatoes, crushed by hand
1 12-ounce can tomato paste
1/4 cup red wine vinegar (or red wine if you happen to have some on hand that you love the taste of!)
2 Tbs black pepper
1 Tbs salt
3 Tbs dried red-pepper flakes
3 Tbs dried basil
8 cloves garlic, minced
3 Tbs fennel seeds 
3 Tbs dried oregano*

Slow-Cooker
Combine all ingredients in the crock pot and simmer on low until thickened and slightly darkened, about 6-8 hours.

Stove Top:
Combine all ingredients in a large, thick-bottomed stock pot and simmer until thickened and slightly darkened, about 2 to 3 hours. Adjust seasoning as desired.
This combination creates a spicy, slightly tangy sauce that is excellent on pasta, pizza, zucchini noodles and much more. The red wine vinegar really packs a nice kick of flavor.