When it comes to comfort foods, few cuisines do it better than Italian and Italian-American fare. That said, while some recipes are fast-fix affairs, many others — meat sauces and meatballs in particular — require long-simmering, making them less than practical on busy weekdays. Enter your savior: the slow cooker. As these recipes demonstrate, many a long-cooking recipe like bolognese or Sunday sauce can be outsourced to this clever piece of kitchen equipment. Win, win!
Get the recipe: slow-cooker beef and Italian sausage meatballs
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Get the recipe: slow-cooker balsamic chicken breasts
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Get the recipe: slow-cooker Italian barley and sausage
Get the recipe: slow-cooker spaghetti and meatballs