Food Fun Friday, Crock Pot Bolognese Sauce

Since I was taking my mom to the Dr. after work I knew I needed a crockpot dish for Thursday.  I found this on skinnytaste.com and hatched a plan.  I will add my 2cents in italics.  And yes I started it the night before, it didn't take much longer than doing the dishes.  In the morning I just plugged it in.

Crock Pot Bolognese Sauce, from skinnytaste.com

This sauce starts out on the stove, which is essential to brown the meat then slowly simmers in the crock pot for the rest of the day. You can start this the night before if you want this for a weeknight meal, then turn it on in the morning and go to work. When you get home, all you will need to do is boil some pasta, or ? what ever you need.

Ingredients:

4 oz pancetta, chopped (or center cut bacon) center cut bacon much easier to find
1 tbsp butter (or olive oil)
1 large white onion, minced  I chopped not minced
2 celery stalks (about 3/4 cup), minced  and chopped
2 carrots (about 3/4 cup), minced and chopped
2 lb 95% lean ground beef   or turkey
1/4 cup white wine   cooking wine
2 - 28 oz cans crushed tomatoes
3 bay leaves
salt and fresh pepper (or a lot of other spices for zip and zing)
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/2 cup half & half cream

Directions:
In a large deep saute pan, sauté pancetta on low heat until the fat melts, about 4-5 minutes. Add butter, onions, celery and carrots and cook on medium-low heat until soft, about 5 minutes.
Increase flame to medium-high; add meat, season with salt and pepper and sauté until browned. Drain the fat then add wine; cook until it reduces down, about 3-4 minutes.
Add tomatoes, bay leaves, salt and pepper. 
Cover and set slow cooker to  LOW 6 hours.

After the 6 hours, adjust salt and pepper to taste, add half & half; stir and
serve over your favorite pasta or spaghetti squash. Garnish with fresh parsley

Makes about 10 cups. Leftovers can be frozen for future meals. To reheat, thaw in the refrigerator then reheat on the stove or crock pot.

This will make about 3 meals for the two of us.  The ONLY thing it lacked was a deeper flavor, a zing of sorts.  I think I'll add red pepper flakes when I heat it up.