Crock-pot Spaghetti Bolognese

I found this fun recipe a couple of weeks ago on A Little Spice Jar's blog and I could not wait to make it! I love spaghetti bolognese and the end result did not disappoint! I should mention that this recipe makes a TON of sauce but you could easily freeze what you don't use and serve as a meal later. I think this recipe made enough sauce to serve about 16 people, so you could half the ingredients to cater to a smaller number of people.

I started by putting 1 onion, 2 stalks of celery and 2 carrots into the food processor until they were coarsely grated. Once they were grated, I put 2 tablespoons of olive oil into a pot on the stove at medium heat and added my vegetables.

I let the vegetables mixture cook for 10 minutes then added 4 cloves of garlic and 1/4 cup of tomato paste. I stirred in the garlic and tomato paste and let the mixture cook for 30-60 seconds.

I increased the heat to medium-high then added 2 1/2 pounds of ground beef, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of pepper, 1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning and 1/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes.

Once the ground beef was browned, I added 3 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar and let the mixture cook for 5 minutes.

Once the meat was done cooking, I removed it from the heat and added it to my crock-pot along with a 14oz can of diced tomatoes (drained), 2 28oz cans of San Marzano tomatoes (I pureed my San Marzano tomatoes in the food processor), 2 bay leaves, 2 Parmesan rinds and 1/4 cup of chopped parsley.

To chop my parsley, I put about a 1/4 cup into a mug then used my kitchen scissors to cut the parsley! This is a fun and easy trick I learned from my mom! Once all the ingredients were in my slow cooker, I let my sauce cook on low for 8 hours. After cooking on low for 8 hours, I added 3/4 cups of cream and forgot to take pictures! Oops! I guess it was just so delicious that I forgot to get the camera!

Spaghetti Bolognese:
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, coarsely grated
2 stalks on celery, coarsely grated
2 medium carrots, coarsely grated
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup tomato paste
2 1/2 pounds ground beef
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2-28oz cans San Marzano tomatoes
14oz can diced tomatoes (drained)
2 bay leaves
2 Parmesan rinds
1/4 cup chopped parsley
3/4 cup cream

Directions:
1. Coarsely grate onion celery and carrot in a food processor.
2. Heat olive oil in a pot on medium heat. Add vegetable mixture and cook for 10 minutes.
3. Add minced garlic and tomato paste to the vegetable mixture and cook on medium heat for 30-60 seconds.
4. Increase heat to medium high, then add the ground beef, salt, pepper, Italian seasoning and red pepper flakes. Cook until the meat is browned, then add the apple cider vinegar and cook for about 5 minutes.
5. Remove the meat from the heat and pour it into the crock-pot along with drained diced tomatoes, purred San Marzano tomatoes, bay leaves, Parmesan rinds and parsley.
6. Let the sauce cook on low for 8 hours. Once the sauce is finished cooking, add the cream, stil until incorporated and serve over pasta!

Enjoy!
Kenzie