Planet Veggie Garden

No not a pink slip but a basket of tomatoes.

I picked a few of the Romas, Early Girls and my fav Celebrity . One more reason I like Celebrity is that is has fewer seeds than your average tomato (so, fewer seeds in the sauce). Only 4 pounds in all but I figured I’d put up a few jars anyway.

The basic recipe I used:

• 4 pounds of washed tomatoes, tops removed
• 1/4 onion, small dice
• 1 small green pepper (I used a small poblano from the garden)
• 4 cloves garlic, smashed & roughly chopped
• 2 sprigs of oregano, leaves removed from stem and roughly chopped
• 12 large basil leaves, roughly chopped
• 1 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt (Redmond)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Canning is not difficult though it is best to follow the directions carefully from such USDA publications as ‘The Complete Guide to Canning’

Here’s a visual guide to my process:

Gathering up ingredients for Tomato Sauce

 

Removing tomato stem ends with the famous "Tomato Shark"

 

Saute onions, pepper, garlic, herbs, sea salt and black pepper in extra virgin olive oil

 

Add tomatoes and balsamic vinegar. Simmer until desired consistency is reached. I usually reduce by 1/3

 

Filling hot sterilized 1/2 pint jars with hot finished sauce

 

Boiling filled jars in a hot water bath – a stock pot with a cake rack on the bottom. Notice there is 1-2" water above the top of the jar. These will boil for 35 minutes.

 

Finished Jars of Tomato Sauce. Plum jam in the background from the day before.

Canned tomato sauce… delicious in QUALITY if not quantity.
enjoy.

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