Slow Cooker Italian Sausage with Peppers and Onions

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

Raw Italian sausages go straight into the crockpot with sweet peppers, onions and crushed tomatoes — no searing, no fuss. Seven hours later the sausages are juicy and tender in a thick, oregano-scented tomato sauce that is just as good piled into rolls as it is spooned over pasta.

Ingredients

• 2 lb Italian sausages (sweet or hot links)
• 3 bell peppers, seeded and sliced into thick strips
• 1 large yellow onion, halved and sliced
• 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper

Instructions

1. Scatter the sliced bell peppers, onion and garlic across the bottom of a 6-quart slow cooker in an even layer.
2. Add the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, oregano, red pepper flakes, salt and black pepper right on top and stir just enough to coat the vegetables.
3. Nestle the raw sausages into the sauce in a single layer, turning them once so they are lightly coated. Do not brown them first and do not add any liquid — the peppers and onions release plenty as they cook.
4. Cover and cook on LOW for 7 to 8 hours or on HIGH for 3 1/2 to 4 hours, without lifting the lid, until the sausages are cooked through (165°F at the center) and the peppers are completely soft.
5. Skim any pooled orange fat from the surface with a spoon, stir the sauce gently around the sausages, and rest uncovered for 5 minutes before serving.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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