How do you like your sausage?

The plan was to make pizza… but it just didn't happen.  We needed a fast meal but pizza - not a quick meal.  Instead?  A crockpot sausage and sauce meal.   This recipe was a little more involved than my normal crockpot meals.  You brown the sausage, then brown the veggies, continuing with all the veggies, dump it all in and cook away.  I did use lean Italian turkey sausage so by the end of the cooking, all the fat had cooked out and the texture was not the best.  Instead, next time I would cook the sausage and set them aside. Then cook all the veggies (so they got that extra flavor) then right before serving, warm and crisp the sausage up in a pan, mmmm yum.  Or, don't do the sausage at all.  This made awesome pasta sauce and it will get made again.

Crock Pot Sausage and Peppers
Sweet Italian Sausage links, cut in half, or thirds if large
salt and pepper
2 yellow onions, cut in half then sliced
3 small or 2 large green bell peppers, sliced
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 teaspoon (more or less) red chili pepper flakes
28oz can tomato sauce
28oz can crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup chicken broth
Directions
Drizzle a small amount of vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium/medium-high heat (6/10 on the heat scale.) Add half or a third of the sausages (depending on how big your skillet is,) then brown for a minute or two on all four sides, or until golden brown, then transfer to a 6-quart crock pot (sausage does not need to be cooked all the way through.) Repeat with remaining sausage then add to crock pot.
Turn heat up to medium-high then add onions to skillet, season with salt and pepper, and sauté until just beginning to become tender, 3-4 minutes then add to crock pot.
Add bell peppers to skillet, season with salt and pepper, then saute until crisp tender, 4-5 minutes, adding a drizzle more oil if necessary to keep peppers from burning. Add garlic then saute for 1 more minute, and then add peppers and garlic to crock pot.
Add red chili pepper flakes, a little pit of salt and pepper, tomato sauce, crushed tomatoes, and chicken broth to crock pot then cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours or until sausages are very tender. Serve over pasta or inside rolls with provolone cheese on top.