Recipe: Gravy (this means sauce in Italian)

I am sure I have mentioned my dislike of homemade red sauce.

However, yesterday, I planned on making braciole, and thought I would really score extra points with the judges if I just did the whole thing from scratch.

So.

I prepped up my veggies. A red onion, diced; three cloves of garlic, minced; one diced carrot and one diced celery stalk. I like veggies.

All of that goes into a saute pan with a little bit of olive oil.



And then dump it all into the (drumroll, please) crockpot. Which you should have sprayed first with some cooking spray.



Add one can of crushed tomatoes.



A small can of tomato paste.



About a tablespoon of sugar.



Some fresh parsley and oregano.



Black pepper and kosher salt to taste.



A wee little bit of crushed red pepper.



And some basil. This would have been much better if I had some fresh, but due to the unpredictable freezes, I still have not replanted mine.



Give it a stir and set it on low for 6-8 hours.



Now, the braciole did not happen, due to circumstances beyond my control. But I did serve this up for MacGyver with some mezze penne and italian bread.



PS. When the cooking is finished, you're supposed to give it a blend with the food processer, immersion blender, or regular blender to make it all smooth and pretty. Given the day I was having, there is no way that would have ended without red sauce all over my white ceiling, so we did it "homestyle."

Mangia!