Homemade Tomato Sauce for Canning

Italian Dinner Recipes

About 20 pounds Plum or other tomatoes 3 cloves garlic, sliced 2 Tbsp. olive oil salt to taste Fresh-cracked black pepper to taste One handful fresh torn basil leaves 1/4 cup fresh oregano leaves 2 Tbsp. fresh or dried rosemary leaves 1/2 yellow onion, chopped

My tomato sauce just won First Place, best of show at Hebron Harvest Fair 2005, so you can trust me that it's good! Clean your 11 quart stockpot. Get a 3 quart pan of boiling water ready. Score an X on the bottom of each tomato and blanch a few at a time (30 seconds or so). Peel off skin. Then remove top and slice tomato into quarters. Remove seeds and watery pulp, and add the rest to the stockpot. When tomatoes are ready, crush them in the stockpot with your clean hands. Then turn on the burner to med-high and add the remaning ingredients, stirring. When the sauce is bubbling nicely, turn down the heat to a good simmer. Let the sauce simmer for about 5 hours, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is the thickness you like. Then you can freeze the sauce in freezer containers, or you may can the sauce using your favorite method of canning (makes about 8 pint jars). Enjoy! -Diana

Submitted by Diana Bogue
Contributed on: Friday August 26th, 2005 and modified on Monday July 3rd, 2006