HOMEMADE CANNED SPAGHETTI SAUCE
This DIY spaghetti sauce is a tomato grower’s dream come true! Use up your summer bounty and enjoy it later in the year.
—Tonya Branham, Mount Olive, AL
Prep: 1 ½ hours + simmering • Process: 40 min. • Makes: 9 qt.
- 25 lbs. tomatoes (about 80 medium)
- 4 large green peppers, seeded
- 4 large onions, cut into wedges
- 2 cans (12 oz. each) tomato paste
- ¼ cup canola oil
- ⅔ cup sugar
- ¼ cup salt
- 8 garlic cloves, minced
- 4 tsp. dried oregano
- 2 tsp. dried parsley flakes
- 2 tsp. dried basil
- 2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
- 2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. bottled lemon juice
- 1. In a Dutch oven, bring 2 qt. water to a boil. Using a slotted spoon, place tomatoes, one at a time, in boiling water for 30-60 seconds. Remove each tomato and immediately plunge into ice water. Peel and quarter the tomatoes; place in a stockpot.
- 2. Pulse green peppers and onions in batches in a food processor until finely chopped; transfer to the stockpot. Stir in the next 11 ingredients. Add water to cover; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, 4-5 hours, stirring occasionally.
- 3. Discard bay leaves. Add 2 Tbsp. lemon juice to each of 9 hot 1-qt. jars. Ladle hot mixture into jars, leaving ½-in. headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if necessary, by adding hot mixture. Wipe rims. Center lids on the jars; screw on bands until fingertip tight.
- 4. Place jars into canner with simmering water, ensuring that they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil; process for 40 minutes. Remove jars and cool.
Note: The processing time listed is for altitudes of 1,000 feet or less. For altitudes up to 3,000 feet, add 5 minutes; 6,000 feet, add 10 minutes; 8,000 feet, add 15 minutes; 10,000 feet, add 20 minutes.
¾ cup: 118 cal., 5g fat (0 sat. fat), 0 chol., 614mg sod., 17g carb. (11g sugars, 4g fiber), 3g pro. Diabetic exchanges: 1 starch, 1 fat.
When a recipe notes “headspace,” it’s referring to the area left unfilled between the top of the food in a home canning jar and the bottom of the lid.