Crock Pot Bolognese

Comfort food—it comes in all shapes and sizes. Normally brought by childhood memories. My comfort food list is rather short—my Mom's meatloaf (which I craved a lot in college especially), Grinder's sauce (a family recipe), and spaghetti and meat sauce. The last one is a recent favorite.

When I first got married, I asked my husband to cook dinner once a week—normally a day that he was off. His list of dinner recipes was rather short, but he could pull off spaghetti and meat sauce. Since I love pasta, it was an easy fix. And, when I lost my job a couple of years ago, that was the meal waiting for me at home, accompanied by wine.

I have to admit that I normally buy jarred sauce. But, I had celery and carrots in the fridge, and I didn't want to waste them.

So for this recipe today, not only is it super easy, healthy and delicious, it's made in a crock pot! Hello convenience!!!! This tastes much better than the store bought sauces. I have to make this much more often now or even better, teach him how to make it! ;)

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

-1 lb of ground beef cooked and drained

1 cup of the following chopped into bite sized pieces:

-celery

-onion

-carrots

4 garlic cloves (minced)

1 teaspoon of pepper

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon garlic salt

29 oz can of tomato sauce

1 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes (undrained)

½ cup of beef broth or red wine (vegetable broth would work too)

2 tablespoons of pesto sauce

Additional salt and pepper if needed

Directions:

Place everything in the slow cooker except pesto sauce.

Heat on low. Cook for 6-8 hours or until the veggies are nice and soft and the sauce is thick and rich. Stir in the pesto sauce.

Taste before serving. Season with additional salt and pepper if needed.

Serve immediately with pasta.