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Chunky tomato sauce for canning
This recipe yields ten (and a half) jars of beautiful, chunky, fragrant tomato sauce that you will love spooning onto your pasta, pizza, potatoes, or rice year-round. If this amount seems like a lot, feel free to halve or even make just one third of it (I will include smaller amounts as well). We are happy to have the full amount; we use it in everything, and I look forward to never logging jars of sauce back from the store again. At least this year.
Ingredients
- For about ten 1-quart 1-litre jars:
- 50 lb fresh tomatoes
- 2.5 cups chopped onion 2 large onions
- 16 cloves of garlic
- ½ cup minced basil in total
- inch each jar:
- 2 Tbs lemon juice or apple cider vinegar
- A pieces of chopped basil
- ¼ teaspoon chili flakes
- ¼ teaspoon sweet paprika
- ½ teaspoon oregano
- ½ teaspoon salt
- For about five 1-quart jars:
- 20 lb tomatoes
- 1 cup chopped onion about 1 large
- 8 cloves garlic
- ¼ cup minced basil
- + same amounts of spice and lemon juice per jar
- For three 1-quart jars:
- 10 lb tomatoes
- ½ cup chopped onion 1 small, or half of an onion
- 4 cloves garlic
- ⅛ cup minced basil
Instructions
- Wash and carefully clean tomatoes (I fill a clean, sterilized sink with water and let the tomatoes sit there while I chop). Chop tomatoes into chunks, taking care to remove both core and blossom ends, all soft or black spots, and any bruised areas. Keep chopped tomatoes in large bowls.
- Chop onion finely. Mince garlic.
- In a heavy-bottomed pot (or several pots, depending on the amount of tomatoes and the size of your pots), saute onion on low-medium heat for 15 mins until it starts to turn golden. Add garlic and saute for another 5. Increase heat to medium-high and add tomatoes in batches, letting each batch let water and reduce for about 5 minutes before adding the next one (this way, more of the tomatoes' surface area is exposed, and the sauce reduces more quickly). When all the tomatoes have been added and the mixture is boiling, reduce heat to medium and simmer until sauce reduces by half (about 30-60 mins, depending on the amount of tomatoes and the size of your pot, or pots).
- Meanwhile, once all of the tomatoes are in the pot, prepare your clean jars and boiling water canner. Heat jars in simmering water until ready for use, at least 10 minutes at an active simmer. Set bands aside.
- When sauce is ready and reduced, carefully remove your jars from the hot water canner. Take out a small saucepan, fill it with hot water from the bath canner, and add the lids (but not the bands) into it, and leave them there while canning.
- Into each sterilized, hot jar, add 2 tablespoon lemon juice or apple cider vinegar. Ladle hot sauce into hot jars, leaving ½ inch of headspace. Add basil, salt and spices into each jar. Remove air bubbles. Wipe rim with a hot towel, centre hot lid on jar, apply band and adjust it until it is fingertip-tight.
- Return filled and sealed jars to hot water canner, bring to a boil, and process them on a rolling boil for 35 minutes. Remove jars and cool. After 24 hours, check if all the seals have popped - lids should not flex up and down when their center is pressed. If any jars did not seal, keep those in the fridge.
- In January, when it's cold outside and there isn't a fresh, juicy tomato in sight, ladle your jarred sauce onto spaghetti, sprinkle some dry basil and nutritional yeast (or parmesan), and enjoy.