Back to school means many things- a return to routine, fresh new crayons, coming up with lunchbox ideas, and one of my favorite things, pulling out the crockpot!I know a crockpot makes sense in the summer too, but for some reason I equate the crockpot with fall and winter food.
Last night was the fall 2010 debut, and here is what I made:
Chicken and Sausage Cacciatore
1 large green bell pepper-diced (I used a combo of small red/yellow/orange ones instead)
8 oz. mushrooms, sliced (I used baby bellas)
1 md. onion, cut into rings
1 lb. skinless boneless chicken thighs
1 lb. Italian sausage
15 oz. can tomato sauce
2 tsp. Italian seasoning
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes (I used fire roasted with green chilis)
1 Tbsp. brown sugar (to cut the acidity of the canned tomatoes)
Spray the crock with cooking spray, layer the veggies into it. Brown the sausage, and then give the chicken thighs a little time browning in the same pan after you have taken the sausage out. Just for a little added flavor. Layer the chicken and then the sausage on top of the veggies. Mix the tomato sauce, seasoning, garlicc, and brown sugar together, pour over the top. Pour the diced tomatoes over that. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours. I took the lid off and gave it a good stir and raised the heat to high for the last 20 minutes or so, to thicken things up. We had this over whole wheat rotini pasta with some crusty ciabatta rolls.
It's not gourmet, and has no crazy flavors. Everything all kind of melts together, it is a big bowl of mushy comfort, that I topped with some freshly shaved parmesan.
Can't wait for the leftovers for lunch today!
Oh boy does that sound good! And, easy. I love my crockpot, too! So nice to have dinner ready right away in the morning and then to smell it all day long. Gonna have to try this one. Thanks!
ReplyDelete