Slow Cooker Sunday Sauce

This is a typical Italian sauce. A less expensive cut of meat is slowly cooked in the tomatoes and either served on the side or, as I’ve done, been shredded into the sauce to make a really thick hearty ragu! Think of it as Italian Pot Roast sauce. It’s like the Commodores sang: it’s so easy…easy like Sunday dinner morning (and yes, I got that song stuck in my head when I made this sauce!).

Prep time: 5 minutes; Cook time: 10 minutes + 6+ hours slow cooker; Serves: 4-6

What you need:

• 1 pot roast style of beef (I used a blade roast and mine was 1.7 lbs)
• 1 28 oz (796 ml) can diced tomatoes
• 1 cup beef stock
• 1 onion diced
• 1 tsp olive oil
• salt & pepper, to season and to taste
• 5 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• 1 large sprig oregano (or 2 tsp dried)
• 1 large sprig basil (or 1 tbsp dried)
• My Go-To Spice Mix (optional for serving)
• Parmigiano-Reggiano, grated for serving
• tomato paste (optional – not shown)
• 500 g cooked pasta (I used penne)

what you do:

• Pat your roast dry and sprinkle with salt and pepper

• Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium-high heat, sear all sides of the roast (about 2 minutes a side)

• Place in a slow cooker
• Add onions, garlic, basil and oregano

• Add can of diced tomatoes

• Add beef stock

• Cook on low for 6+ hours

• Remove basil and oregano stems (leaves are okay)
• Remove string around beef, then shred the beef into the sauce

• If you would like a thicker sauce, add some tomato paste (2 – 3 tbsp), stir and continue to cook for 10 minutes (I added it to my recipe)
• Add your cooked pasta to a large bowl, add the sauce as desired and give it a good toss to coat

• Serve into bowls, salt and pepper to taste

• Grate Parmigiano-Reggiano over top

• Want a little more spice? Add My Go-To Spice Mix
• Enjoy

• Cozy Sunday Supper