5 Hour Spaghetti Sauce

This is a great recipe for those who love their crockpots. I make this quite often since it makes so much and I can freeze some after we have had our meal. It takes about 5-6 hours to simmer in the crock pot and after you add the noodles to the sauce, it makes a great meal just pennies a serving. Freeze the rest in freezer containers to have for future meals. It is a lot of slicing and dicing but the work is worth it. Pair up this spaghetti with garlic bread and salad and you have a great meal. You can also make large quantities of this if you grow your own tomatoes and process in a canner to make sauce for all year, instructions follow for that at the bottom. Now for the recipe:

5 Hour Spaghetti Sauce

4-6 Roma tomatoes, diced or you can use one can diced tomatoes (15 oz)
2 cans tomato paste
2 cans tomato sauce
1 cup water
1-2 Tbsp chopped fresh basil
1-2 Tbsp chopped fresh oregano
1-2 tsp fresh ground pepper
1-2 tsp salt
3-4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed (you can cut this down if you do not want such a strong garlic flavor)
1/2 green pepper, diced fine
1/2 red pepper, diced fine
1 medium onion, diced fine
1 small can sliced olives or 1/4 cup diced green olives
1/4 cup white wine, if desired
1 lb hamburger or Italian sausage, if desired

Combine all ingredients in crock pot and simmer on low for 5-6 hours. Cook hamburger or sausage about an hour before sauce is ready and add to sauce, if meat is desired. Serve over hot spaghetti noodles.

Freezing and canning instructions:
- Fill freezer containers leaving about 1 inch head space, label with date and contents and freeze for up to 3 months. Or you can process this is a boiling water bath for 25 minutes for pints and 30 minutes for quarts to keep longer or if you make large quantities of sauce.

Variations:
- Add meatballs instead of hamburger or sausage and make meatball sandwiches
- Use this sauce with no meat for pizza sauce