Saucy

The other night, I had the bright idea that I was going to make homemade spaghetti sauce.  I pulled off a bunch of little roma tomatoes and three medium sized round tomatoes (plus two from the store to supplement the sauce, since I knew I wouldn’t have enough big tomatoes for this) Sometimes when I want to try something new, I don’t exactly think ahead before I start making it to even know if I have all the ingredients.  Luckily, tomato sauce is pretty easy and the only thing I had to run to the store to get was tomato paste (thickener) and mason jars.

Also, this post would be so much more interesting if I had progress pictures while I was making this…but “I don’t exactly think ahead before I start making something….”  definitely kicked in here. Nevertheless, I can give you a quick run down.  Oh.  And this recipe has no measurements, I completely eyeballed EVERYTHING!!!!!

1.Pick some fresh tomatoes from your garden. I had 1 softball sized and like 4 baseball sized ones, plus like 10 tiny romas. 

2. Saute about ½ a large onion and 1tbl for minced garlic.  Set aside.

3. Heat some water to boiling, then put all tomatoes in for about a minute to loosen the skin.  (it will take longer if your tomatoes are cold)

4. Have a bowl of ice water ready, then take tomatoes out and put in the ice water.  Immediately peel the skin off.

5. OPTION- to save time simmering, if your tomatoes are really watery and have a lot of seeds you can scoop the seeds out and squeeze the tomatoes in a strainer before moving forward.  Mine happened to be quite meaty, so I didn’t bother.

6. Quarter the tomatoes and place in a blender with the sautéed onions and garlic.  Blend.

7. Pour everything into a pot and add a handful of fresh chopped basil and other spices to your desire.

8. Add 1 can of tomato paste and a dash of salt and 2tbl lemon juice (this is crucial if you're going to can this because tomatoes are a low acid fruit so you need the lemon juice to help the sauce not to spoil.

9. Simmer for a while…like 2 hours.

10. Put in the blender again to get the sauce even smoother.

11. Simmer a bit longer, until it’s at desired consistency.

Thoroughly wash mason jars, then pour sauce into jars and enjoy!

But Wait!!!  We're actually not done yet.   I used Ball brand mason jars (16oz), and if you want to put this is your pantry you have to "process" (boil) the cans to pressurize the lid.

First, you need a really big, tall pot.  Fill it with water, enough so that when you put the jars in, they are submerged with at least 1" of water covering the top.  When you have the water boiling, put the jars in and continue boiling for 35 minutes.  When you take them out, just let them sit on the counter overnight to cool.  It shouldn't take long for you to hear them "pop" which means they are pressurized and should be safe to store for a few months.

If you want to make the sauce and just freeze it...then you just need to put it in quarter size freezer bags.

Enjoy!