TOMATO SAUCE

by Robin

I'd better write this down before I forget how to do it next time.  Excuse me if I use my blog as my recipe book.  LOL.

Nearly ever week, I have a shelf just full of red tomatoes and have to find something to do with them.  The first week, I made salsa.  Then, I made sun-dried tomatoes.  Last week, I made sauce and it was ok but I forgot to take the skins off of it, so it wasn't stellar but more like a learning curve.  Everything is still edible but I'm new to having a surplus of tomatoes.

This week, I think I have about perfected my recipe for canning homemade sauce.  This batch, seen below, had a LOT of Ugly Ripes and Campari tomatoes in it.  A big overflowing bowl of them.

We popped the skins off with a couple minutes of boiling, followed by an ice bath.  Then, we had a peeling party.  Nothing like insisting the kids know where their food comes from.  So, from there, I would just mash them down but noticed I wasn't getting a good consistence, so I sent them to the blender for finer blending.

Notice, I did not try to remove the seeds.  Store products do not have a lot of seeds, but I think that would be near impossible to do with homemade sauce, especially since these are not paste tomatoes.



Ok, so everybody in the pool.   Blended tomatoes, garlic powder, onion powder, 1 bay leaf, black pepper and about 4 Tblsp of lemon juice.  Boil and boil some more.  Get most the liquid gone.  The more you boil, the more it will resemble paste.   I probably could have boiled mine more, but I like-a da sauce.

From here, you put them into sterilized jars.  I filled up 2 pints this week.  Last week, I did 1 quart, so at least I'm consistent in knowing that 1 window sill's worth  equals approx a quart.  ha ha.

Now, we boil them in a water bath for a serious 30 min (pints) or 40 min (quarts). The contents will begin boiling again.  Then, set them on a towel to cool overnight.  You should hear them suction down.

Now, you have a couple more jars for the winter (if they make it that long!).  I'm thankful to at least be doing something productive with them besides letting them rot in the drawer.

Today, my job is to figure out how to preserve 5 foot-long yellow squashes.  I was so disappointed in January when I learned my original seed was no longer for sale.  But, that has long faded since these are much more productive!! Wow.  They practically grow over an inch every night.

Blessings,
Robin