Slow Cooker Italian Sausage and Peppers

When looking at what recipes I have posted so far, I realized that my slow cooker bag recipes have been a culinary tour around the world. This amused me, so I decided to continue with a quick stop over in Italy with my Italian sausage and peppers.

Nothing beats Sausage and peppers right off the grill, but who wants to do that during the week, let alone during the winter. Slow cooking them allows you to enjoy the taste of sausage and peppers any day of the week with a third of the work. 

I find myself cooking this with chicken sausage for a few reasons. 1. It causes less gas 2. It is less fatty 3. You can get so many varieties of chicken sausage that I like experimenting with different flavors such as chicken and apples, chicken with fennel, hot chicken sausage, and so on. You most certainly can use this exact same recipe with pork sausage, especially since that is the Italian way to do.

Slow Cooker Italian Sausage and Peppers

2 lbs. sausage links

3 bell peppers (any color you like, even mix if you’re feeling a bit crazy) sliced

2 large onions sliced

2 large tomatoes chopped with juices

1/2 c dry red wine

1/2 c beef stock

2 Tbsp. tomato paste

3 cloves garlic minced

1/2 tsp. dried oregano

1/2 tsp. dried basil

1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper (optional)

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

2 bay leaves

Get a large Ziploc bag and write on it the following. Pour entire contents of bag into slow cooker. Cook on low for 6 hours. Serve on rolls or with crusty bread to absorb the sauce. Pour into the bag wine, stock, tomato paste, garlic, oregano, basil, cayenne, salt and pepper. Seal the bag, double check the seal and then shake to make sure everything gets combined. It will take a few minutes to get the tomato paste incorporated. Once you’re satisfied, add in the bay leaves, sausage, peppers, onions, and tomatoes. Seal bag and lay flat to freeze. When you’re ready to eat it pull it out the night before to thaw, in the morning through them in the slow cooker, set and forget.