Italian Sausage in Rustic Ragu

It’s very rare that I don’t have some kind of jarred or canned spaghetti sauce in my house. It’s pretty much a staple in my cupboards.
That’s why I was so shocked when I went to reach for a jar the other night and I had nothing. It’s not as simple as running to the corner market for me. I live in a very rural area and the closest actual grocery store is about 20 – 25 minutes from my house.

Even though I was out of spaghetti sauce I still had these Italian sausages I needed to do something with. So this is what I did with what I had on hand to make a rustic ragu to cook these Italian sausages in.
Here is how I did it:

• Italian sausage links (I actually used turkey)
• 15 ounce can of stewed tomatoes
• 15 ounce can of diced tomatoes
• 10 ounce can of pureed tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon of dried sliced garlic (could use fresh clove if you like)
• 2 tablespoons of dried chopped onion (could use 1/2 chopped fresh one if you’d like)
• 2 teaspoons of Italian seasoning

In a 2 1/2 – 3 quart crock pot add the 3 cans of tomato products, garlic, onion and Italian seasoning.
Mix to incorporate.

Now submerge the Italian sausages in the sauce.
Cover with lid and cook on low for 6 – 8 hours or on high for 3 1/2 – 5 hours.
These were very delicious. It tasted just like an Italian granmother had slaved in the kitchen all day.
You could serve them over pasta (which is what we did the first night) or you could serve them in hoagie rolls and top with cheese.