Homemade Canned Spaghetti Sauce with fresh tomatoes
Enjoy my homemade spaghetti sauce recipe that I have canned this week, and it is so GOOD! You know, there is no store bought sauce that will even come close to the flavor of this homemade sauce. But to get that flavor, you must use tomatoes that you've grown yourself or purchased from a farmer's market or a pick your own field.
Equipment
Ingredients
- 25 pounds tomatoes 60-65 tomatoes
- 4 onions finely chopped
- 4 green peppers finely chopped
- 8 cloves garlic minced
- 2 cans tomato paste 12 ounce cans
- 2 tablespoons oregano dried
- 2 tablespoons basil dried
- 1 tablespoon rosemary dried
- 2 tablespoons thyme dried
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- lemon juice see note
Instructions
Prepping Garden Tomatoes
- Wash the tomatoes
- Blanch them in boiling water for 60 seconds.
- Plunge into ice-cold water.
- Core the tomatoes and cute them in halves or quarters.
- Place all of your cut tomatoes into large pot.
Homemade Canned Spaghetti Sauce
- Bring tomatoes to a boil over medium high heat (stirring constantly to avoid burning and help break the tomatoes down).
- Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until tomatoes start breaking down into small pieces.
- Add the tomato paste to the tomatoes and mix thoroughly.
- Cut onions and green peppers into chunks and process in a food processor until finely chopped. Add to the simmering tomatoes and stir.
- Mine the garlic cloves and add to the pot and stir.
- Simmer for 30 minutes and stir the sauce constantly.
- Add the oregano, rosemary, basil, thyme, and Worcestershire sauce. Stir to mix thoroughly and simmer for an additional 10 minutes.
Canning Process
- Prep your canning equipment by washing your jars, lids, and screw bands.
- Sterilize the jars by submerging them in hot water.
- Add the lids to a separate pot of warm water and keep them warm.
- Fill your water-bath canner half full of water and heat it to simmering. Screw bands do not need to be kept warm.
- Add 2 tablespoons of bottled lemon juice to each jar. Do not use fresh lemon juice.
- Using a funnel, transfer the spaghetti sauce into the jars. Leave ½ inch headspace at the top. Release any air bubble with a spatula.
- Place a lid on each jar and hand tighten a screw band on. Do not over-tighten. Repeat until you've canned all of your tomato sauce.
- Place your jar rack in the water bath canner, suspending it with the handles on the edge. Then put your jars in the rack.
- Unhook the jar rack and carefully lower it into the hot water. Add more water if necessary to cover the jars with at least 1 inch of hot water. Heat the water to a full rolling boil for 40 minutes.
- Remove your jars with a jar lifter and place them on a clean, dry kitchen towel away from drafts and allow them to cool completely for 12-24 hours. Test to make sure each jar has sealed and store in a cool, dark place.
Notes
Flavor
The longer you leave the sauce to simmer with the tomatoes, the more intense the flavor becomes.
Add lemon juice
To ensure the acidity in the tomato sauce and longer shelf life, add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice to it per quart of tomatoes.
Boiling tomatoes
Don't leave them in any longer because you don't want to cook your tomatoes, you just want their skins to split.
Thicken the Sauce To thicken the sauce, I add 2 cans ( 12 ounce size) of tomato paste. You could omit this step, but you'd have to let your sauce cook for a few hours to reduce the amount of water in the tomatoes. Besides, I think the paste gives the sauce a richer taste.
Thicken the Sauce To thicken the sauce, I add 2 cans ( 12 ounce size) of tomato paste. You could omit this step, but you'd have to let your sauce cook for a few hours to reduce the amount of water in the tomatoes. Besides, I think the paste gives the sauce a richer taste.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!