Yesterday I made a yummy batch of meat sauce in the crockpot. It’s one of the basics of my food plan because I love meat sauce over pasta or sometimes just steamed veggies. But to make it, you have to have the ingredients. So I make sure that I always have them on hand, including at least one pouch of cooked ground turkey, browned with onions, peppers and garlic in the freezer at all times. That way all I have to do is pull it out, thaw, open a few other things, and abracadabra! it’s dinner for days.
Anne’s Meat Sauce:
1 lb. ground turkey
1 sweet onion, chopped
1/2 bag frozen chopped peppers (or fresh if you have them handy)
1 tsp. minced garlic (or more if you like) – either from the jar or fresh
3 16-oz cans diced tomatoes
2 cans tomato paste with Italian seasonings
splash of red cooking wine (optional)
1/2 Tb. Better than Boullion beef flavor (or other concentrated stock base)
2 tsps. cinnamon
1-2 tsp. fennel seed
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
3 bay leaves
Brown the ground turkey, onion, peppers, and garlic and drain off fat. For convenience, I use frozen peppers and minced garlic in a jar but you can certainly use fresh. Spray either crockpot or large Dutch oven with Pam. Add meet mixture and all other ingredients. Mix thoroughly. If cooking in the crockpot, cook on low for 3-4 hours. In a Dutch oven, simmer on low for 2 hours.
Yield: 6 1-cup servings
Serve over pasta or steamed vegetables (or both)
Random Thoughts of a Disordered Mind 