Italian Red Sauce

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It took me 12 years of being married to an Italian, but I finally came up with a red sauce for pasta that my husband loves.

Here it is:
First brown 1 lb. of italian sausage (I like sweet, mild for my family) cut into 4 inch lengths in a skillet.  Once browned, put into large crockpot.

Then, start on the meatballs.
Mix:
Meatballs
2/3 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup buttermilk or 1/2 cup milk + 1 tsp. lemon juice (let sit for 5 min. to sour)
1 lb. ground beef
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tsp. dried parsley leaves
1 large egg yolk
1 small clove garlic , minced (1/2 teaspoon from a jar)
3/4 teaspoon salt

Mix bread crumbs and buttermilk/sour milk together for 5 min. and let sit.  Then, add rest of ingredients and form into meatballs (some people like small and some like large).  Brown meatballs on all sides in a skillet with 1/4-1/2 inch canola oil.  You don't need to cook the meatballs through.  Once browned, place in crockpot with sausage.

Sauce:
Saute 1 large onion and 3 cloves of garlic (minced) with 2 Tbs. olive oil., then add to crock pot.
Add 1 29 oz. can crushed tomatoes, 2 29 oz. cans tomato puree, and 1 can of water (add less if you like a thicker sauce)
Add   2 tsp. oregano, 2 tsp. sugar, 2 tsp. salt, 2 tsp. basil, 1/2 tsp. black pepper, and a handful of fresh chopped parsley to the sauce (or 2-3 tsp. dried parsley).

Add 1/3 cup red wine if you enjoy red wine in your sauce.  My kids don't like wine, but my husband does, so I usually opt for 1/4 cup and meet them in the middle.

Let sauce cook in crockpot on high for 4-6 hours.  The sausage and meatballs will cook through in the sauce.  

So, that's my sauce recipe :)