1. Peel skin from onion, 5 small/medium garlic cloves (I was getting towards the middle of a head so I used what I had, but I'd say this is equivalent to about 3 large cloves), and shallot. Chop coarsely.
2. Peel skin off sausage (if necessary) by slitting skin down length of sausage with sharp knife and gently pulling casing away from the filling.
3. Drop large pieces of sausage (pull apart with fingers or gently cut with knife) and the ground beef into a large pot with 1 tbsp olive oil and the chopped garlic, onions, and shallots.
4. Cook together in own juices on medium low heat until meat is pale brown with a slight pink tinge. The meat shouldn't over cook because of the amount of juice in the pan keeping it moist, but you might want to keep an eye on it. Remember, the meat will cook all the way through while it simmers with the rest of the sauce!
5. While the meat etc cooks chop the green bell pepper and Serrano chili.
6. When the meat looks like it's been cooked to your satisfaction (the onions should still hold their form but they'll look like they're beginning to become slightly transparent), add about half of the chopped Serrano, stir into meat mixture, and simmer together for about 2 more minutes.
7. After the 2 minutes is up add a 29 oz can of crushed tomatoes along with the rest of the Serrano and the green bell pepper.
8. Stir together until well combined.
9. Cover pot and simmer for 2-4 hours. I'll probably end up close to 4 hours.
I chose to make the sauce on the stove top for convenience since I'll be building a whole other dish and only wanted to dirty one pot, but if I were planning on leaving the apartment or just making a pasta sauce then I would use our Crock Pot. If you wanted to use a slow cooker you would simply transfer the mear/onion/garlic/shallot/Serrano mixture into the crock pot after Step 7, taking or leaving as much of the juices as you want (more juice means more flavor but also more fat...it's personal preference). Proceed with Step 8 and then cover and cook on high for 3-4 hours or, preferably, on low for 4-6 hours. It's tough to overcook things like this in the Crock Pot so don't worry about exact times. DO NOT OPEN CROCK POT COVER DURING COOKING.
In the time that it took me to write this all out the apartment has begun to smell delicious. I love these pasta sauce/chili type recipes because the aromas slowly change through the cooking process. While I wait (im)patiently for the sauce to cook I'll chill and watch "How the States Got Their Shapes" on the History Channel, then I'll forge ahead with the cheese sauce filling for the lasagna. Until then...
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