Slow cooker bolognese sauce

The family favourite made easy (or EASIER). Slow cooker spaghetti bolognese is tossed into the slow cooker, and gently cooks for 8 hours, resulting in dinner perfection.

Hi! Just wondering if I can have two minutes of your time to talk about the plight of the slow cooker?! Ok, bye. Have a nice day….

*moonwalks* *drums on clipboard*

Hi! Your hair looks AMAZING! Just wondering if I can have two minutes of your time to talk about the plight of the slow cooker? GREAT! Did you know that there are literally millions of slow cookers sitting at the back of cupboards right this minute, right across the globe? Tragic.

In Australia we have a real problem at this time of year; hundreds of slow cookers are purchased as gifts then almost immediately abandoned to a cupboard or linen press. Or worse. Returned. Given the extreme temperatures we experience here, people just don’t think they need them. WRONGO.

Hobart probably has the greatest percentage of use because of the temperate climate but the usage lessens the further north you go and statistics are starting to reveal a drop heading west of the country too. Today I’m trying to bring awareness to the brilliance of the slow cooker, no matter what time of year it is and no matter where you are.

There are some dedicated souls who religiously use their slow cookers almost daily and appreciate the many time saving benefits of this machine – I KNOW RIGHT! A slow cooker that saves time? CRAZY TALK but it’s true. In most cases you can just bung all your ingredients in there, flick the switch and walk away for eight hours. Just walk right on away. No no! not you, come back! Phew, thought I lost you there for a second. My point is, when these slow cookers find their rightful owners and settle in to your kitchen, they can bring great joy to your family’s dining experience from succulent meat extravaganzas right through to tender vegetarian dishes. Heck, some folks even make cakes in them!

All I’m asking of you today is to consider dragging your slow cooker out from its cold, dark hiding place and give it a chance, or maybe even purchasing one? The Boxing Day sales are still ripe for the picking – let’s face it, they’re pretty ripe all year round am I right *wink*. And look, I could get in to trouble for telling you this but I bought my very own slow cooker from a discount retailer *gasp*. It was sitting there alone on a shelf with a whacking great ding in its side but I kept circling around and it continued to catch my gaze for 40 solid minutes. The store person assured me that operationally it was as good as brand new and boy were they right! I’ve never looked back. I use my slow cooker at least once a week, it’s the most loyal appliance I’ve ever owned.

Ok, well you have yourself a nice day and please take this complimentary ‘really fast, super slow Bolognese’ recipe as a small token for your time. Bye!

*moonwalk* *robot dance*

Slow cooker spaghetti Bolognese

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Slow Cooker Bolognese Sauce

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• Author: Chantelle
• Total Time: 8 hours 10 minutes

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

1kg minced meats (I use beef, veal and pork – but beef works perfectly)

2 cloves garlic

2 carrots

2 celery sticks

2 small onions

2 cans crushed tomatoes

2 cups tomato passata

2 teaspoons tomato paste

1 large bag of spinach

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon basil

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Instructions

1. Wash and peel carrots and celery. Peel onion and garlic. Now throw these into a food processor and blitz until finely diced. About 15 pulses, but my processors is vintage so yours may be quicker. If you don’t have a processor don’t worry, you can dice the veggies up it just takes a wee bit longer.
2. Set your slow cooker function to sear and fry off the vegetables (not the spinach). Throw in your meat and brown. It doesn’t have to be fully cooked out, just erring on the brown side. Add the rest of the ingredients, lid on the slow cooker and flick the dial to 8 hours. That’s it. That’s all. About 30 minutes before the end of cooking time, slice up your spinach and add it in. THEY WON’T EVEN KNOW IT’S THERE!
3. Spoon this heaven over your favourite pasta shape and do it in a relaxed manner because you are now uber-relaxed.

Notes

If you want a smoother sauce, I sometimes remove half of the cooked sauce and blitz it in the food processor. This way tends to coat the pasta more evenly like legit Italian sauce is meant to. Also, I try and use fresh herbs whenever I can but my herb garden took a lazy hit this year so dried is absolutely fine.

• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 8 hours