Quaker Hill Farm: The Best Ever Spaghetti Sauce

Saturday, August 13, 2016

The Best Ever Spaghetti Sauce

Our tomatoes have produced very well this summer. Now it is time to can. I enjoy this endeavor. There is just something very satisfying about seeing those pretty jars and knowing there will be some tasty dishes coming from them this winter!

Canning can be time-consuming, but I try to multitask when i am doing so. I really love to hear that "clink" when the jars are sealing.

Red is my favorite color, so I guess that is one reason I love to can tomatoes the very best!

With this recipe, I was able to get 5 quarts and 1 pint. This sauce is very versatile. I use it for all kinds of pasta dishes plus the marinara for pizzas and dipping sauce for bread sticks. I made homemade pizzas for the back to school party, the other night, and the kiddos really liked the marina with the breadsticks.

As the sauce cooks, it becomes very thick and a rich deep red color.

The recipe:

16 lbs. tomatoes (about 32 cups)

4 c. onions, chopped finely

1/4 c. garlic, minced

1 c. olive oil

1/4 c. basil

1/4 c. oregano

1 T. sugar

2 T. salt

2 t. pepper

2--12 oz. cans tomato paste

1. I blanch the whole tomatoes in a hot water bath for about 3 or 4 minutes. Just enough so the skin will come off easily. Let the tomatoes cool down before removing the skins! They are very hot. ( I remove the skins before going to step 2.)

Then my preference is to leave the tomato whole with the seeds and roughly chop them.

2. Chop, blend, puree (it is completely up to your own preference) your tomatoes and place in a very thick bottomed pot.

3. Saute onions, garlic, and oil together until onions are translucent. Add to tomatoes along with basil, oregano, sugar, salt, pepper and paste.

4. Simmer for 2-3 hours, or until it reaches your desired thickness. (I stirred the sauce fairly frequently so that the tomatoes will not scorch on the bottom of the pan.)

5. When the desired thickness has been reached, pour the tomato sauce into clean jars and seal.

6. Process in a steam bath (water process) canner 20 minutes for quarts and 15 minutes for pints. Follow your canner's directions and remember because the spaghetti sauce is very hot, don't submerge the filled jars into cold water in the canner. They very likely would break and could cause burns. Start with warm to hot water, and place on medium high heat. Cover your canner with the lid. Start timing from the time steam starts coming out of your canner.

7. Turn off the heat to the canner and let the canner cool down before removing the jars. SAFETY first!

This is the second year I have made this recipe and our family loves it!

If any jar does NOT seal refrigerate it and use it within 2 or 3 days. This recipe is a great way to use up tomatoes.

This recipe was adapted from here.