Canning Spaghetti Sauce

We now have 35 quarts of home-canned spaghetti sauce from our garden. It was my first year making sauce. Because I chose to pressure can it instead of using a boiling water bath, I had more freedom in the recipe I used. This recipe is not safe for the water bath canning process because it is not acidic enough.

Wash and cut your tomatoes in half. Place in a large glass bowl and cook in the microwave to release much of their juice. This saves you from having to simmer your pot down for hours on the stove- a huge plus for me! When done, strain the tomatoes from the juice. Reserve the juice just in case.

Puree the tomatoes in the food processor - peels and all.

Chop other vegetables in the food processor as well.

Here's my cute little helper. She is my only one home in the mornings this year so she has become my number one "helper." Those of you with young children know that it slows you down to have such a "helper," but I know I'm teaching her important principles so I try to be patient through it all. Her favorite job is to push the buttons on the food processor. Thank goodness mine has a lock function so it won't turn on until the lid is locked in place or I would have a giant mess!

Mix everything together. Add spices to taste. It takes more basil and oregano than you think. I buy my spices in bulk at our local grocery store. Stir in tomato paste until it is as thick as you like. You can also chop fresh herbs if you have them. I ended up adding the tomato juice back in and using a little more tomato paste so I could have a larger batch.

Fill jars. Then pressure can at 12 pounds of pressure for 20 minutes.

I ended up with about 9 quarts of sauce with this recipe. If you don't want to pressure can it, you can freeze this recipes with perfect results.

Home-Canned Spaghetti Sauce

18 cups tomato puree

3 large green peppers, chopped

3 medium onions, chopped

1 large zucchini, chopped

10 carrots, chopped

1/2 - 3/4 cup sugar

3-4 cups tomato paste - enough to make it as thick as you like

Reserved tomato juice, if needed

Dried oregano, basil, garlic, salt and pepper, to taste

Wash and cut tomatoes in half. Place in a large glass bowl. Microwave for 12-15 minutes. This allows the tomatoes to release a lot of their juice. Strain the tomatoes from the juice, but reserve the juice in case it is needed later. Chop the tomatoes in a food processor. Chop peppers, onions, zucchini, and carrots in a food processor. Mix all the ingredients together. Use some of the reserved juice, if needed, depending on how much tomato paste you added. Fill jars and pressure can at 12 lbs of pressure for 20 minutes.