Last night I was cooking up a batch of organic, homemade spaghetti sauce and I thought.. I should can this! It is so yummy! So I started looking around for others recipes. I was surprised by how many opinions there are about canning spaghetti sauce. I can't wait to try these.
re-blogged from The farm girl
I have tried several different spaghetti sauce recipes and always come back to this. We love it and it looks so pretty in the jars.
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. Chop, blend, puree your tomatoes and place in a very thick bottomed pot. Saute onions, garlic and oil together until onions are translucent. Add to tomatoes along with basil, oregano, sugar, salt, pepper and paste. Simmer for 2-3 hours, or until it reaches your desired thickness.
2. Process in steam bath canner 20 minutes for quarts and 15 minutes for pints. Follow your canners directions and remember because the spaghetti sauce is very hot you do not need use cold water in your canner. Start with hot water and place on medium high heat and start timing from the time steam starts coming out.
I did read in a few different places to add citric acid. Here is why:
Tomatoes were once considered an acid food that could be safely canned in a boiling-water canner. However, because of the potential for botulism when some newer, less acidic tomato varieties are canned, certain precautions must now be taken. Add 1 tablespoon bottled lemon juice to pints and 2 tablespoons bottled lemon juice to quarts of tomatoes. Or add one-fourth teaspoon crystalline citric acid to pints and one-half teaspoon crystalline citric acid to quarts of tomatoes. Acid can be added directly to jars before filling. Four tablespoons of 5 percent acidity vinegar per quart may be used instead of lemon juice or citric acid, however, it may cause undesirable flavor changes. Add sugar to offset acid taste if desired.
Note: Don't use fresh lemon juice as its acidity varies. Tomato canning tablets should not be used as they are ineffective.
