Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Spaghetti Sauce

This recipe uses a pressure canner and a Vita-mix. If you don't have a canner, you can freeze this recipe in quart-sized freezer bags for up to 6 months with good success. If you don't have a Vita-mix, shucks for you. hehe, seriously.. you can just dice your veggies, simmer until soft and then puree in your blender until smooth.

Spaghetti Sauce
(makes about 3 quarts, or 6 pints)
4 quarts tomatoes (about 24 large)
2 medium carrots (or 1 large carrot), cut into chunks
3 stalks celery with leaves, cut into chunks  
1 medium onion, cut into chunks
1 medium green pepper, cut into chunks
1 Tbsp basil
1 Tbsp oregano
1 Tbsp marjoram
1 tsp rosemary
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp sea salt

Wash vegetables, remove stems and blossom end from tomatoes. You can peel your tomatoes as well if you desire. I never do. I have a Vita-mix. That I got for free. (Are you good and jealous now? ok, moving on..) Fill Vita-mix container about halfway with tomatoes. Start on Variable speed 2, gradually increasing to speed 6 until all tomatoes have been sucked into the blades. Remove plug from lid and, one at a time, drop in chunks of your other vegetables until container is about 3/4 full. Turn speed up to high and process 2-3 minutes until you see no trace of any chunks through the container. This high speed will pulverize any peels and seeds from your vegetables. Pour contents of container into a large stockpot (If you don't have a very large one, you can use 2 5-qt pots). Repeat process until all vegetables have been pureed. Heat stockpot to boiling over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. Once mixture is boiling, reduce heat to medium to keep a low boil until mixture thickens to desired consistency. This usually takes me about an hour. Again, be sure to stir occasionally to prevent sticking. When you've reached your desired consistency, add seasonings and simmer another 10 minutes.

If you are pressure canning: Ladle hot sauce into hot jars leaving 1-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. Adjust two-piece caps. Process pints 35 minutes, at 15 pounds pressure in a steam-pressure canner.

If you are freezing: Remove from heat and allow sauce to cool for about 30 minutes. Ladel sauce into labeled freezer jars or bags leaving 1-inch headspace. Allow to cool completely in the refrigerator before freezing. Keeps up to 6 months.

Use this sauce in lasagna, pizza, or over any noodle!
Enjoying some home-made pizza on the lawn. Yum!

Enjoy on some home-made gnocci. 

3 comments:

19bkwrm79 said...

How many quarts of spaghetti sauce does your recipe make? Do you think it would be ok to add a jalapeno or two to the recipe to give it a little extra oomph?

Sheryl said...

This is just 3 quarts spaghetti sauce. Feel free to double it as necessary (I always do!) and absolutely, throw in some spice if you want to. The important thing is to make sure the processing time is adequate for the vegetable requiring the longest processing.. which in this case is peppers.

19bkwrm79 said...

ok Thanks! I have a friend that doesn't want to bother canning so she is giving me her tomatoes. :-)