Savory Italian sausage in a spicy tomato sauce comes together easily in a slow cooker. Just set it and forget it, and come back to a great dinner all ready to serve over your favorite pasta or spaghetti squash.
In a skillet, heat the olive oil until shimmering. Add the carrots and onions. Over medium-low heat, saute the vegetables, stirring, until very tender, about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, combine the tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, basil, crushed red pepper, salt, and black pepper in the crock of a slow cooker. Add the cooked carrots and onions. Stir to combine.
Submerge the uncooked sausage links in the sauce. Cover. Turn crockpot's heat to HIGH for 4 hours or to LOW for 6 to 8 hours.
Remove sausages from sauce and shake off excess sauce. Heat an outdoor grill or grill pan. Brown the sausages on grill. (If you don't have a grill or grill pan, just brown them in a pan on the stove.) Cut sausages on the diagonal and return to the sauce.
Serve the sausages and sauce over cooked pasta or spaghetti squash.
Notes
Nutritional values do not account for pasta or squash for serving.To freeze: cool the sausage and sauce and place in an airtight container. Chill in the refrigerator before freezing. To serve, reheat and serve over pasta or squash.