Rich semi-sweet tomato sauce seasoned with oregano and basil, with chunks of peppers, onions, and garlic
Yield:
5 pints or 1 pint
Ingredients:
5 pints tomato sauce (see directions)
1 1/2 cups chopped onions
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup chopped sweet peppers or bell peppers
1/2 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons salt
5 teaspoons oregano
2 teaspoons black pepper
2 teaspoons basil
2 tablespoons arrowroot or cornstarch
a little tomato juice (set some aside when draining)
Instructions:
1.To
make 5 pints of tomato sauce, you will need about 20 pounds of tomatoes
(1.5 pecks, approximately). You can, however, make sauce out of
whatever tomatoes you have on hand and adjust the seasonings according
to how much sauce you have.
Prepare tomatoes as follows: wash and core tomatoes and put into a large pan(s) and cook until soft and mushy (at least one hour). Be careful to stir every now and then and keep the heat reasonable so they don’t scorch… scorched tomatoes taste awful!
2. Using a small pan or large scoop, put hot tomatoes into a strainer
to drain off the watery juice. (We use a mesh wire strainer.) When
tomatoes have drained somewhat (10-20 minutes), run them through a
colander, which will remove the seeds and skins. (Another way is to
drain the tomatoes and then run through a blender or food processor.)
While you process one batch, have another batch in the strainer to
drain.
3. Put sauce into a clean pan, and continue until all tomatoes are
processed. You should now have a tomato sauce, which could be canned as
is, or you can season for pizza/spaghetti, etc. Usually once you have
the tomatoes processed, then you know how much sauce you will end up
with. The above measurements were per 5 pints of processed sauce.
4. Cook onions, garlic, and peppers in a pan on the stove with a little tomato juice until tender before adding to sauce.
5. While you are cooking the onions, peppers, and garlic, add the
white sugar, salt, oregano, black pepper, basil, and arrowroot or
cornstarch, mixed with a little tomato juice (set some aside when
draining). Stir sauce to mix thoroughly and bring to a boil so it
thickens. You may need more thickener depending on how well-drained your
tomatoes were and your own preference.
6. If preserving, put into jars and process for 25 minutes (for
pints; 35 minutes for quarts). (You can open-kettle this, like salsa,
but it gets kind of messy because the sauce is thick and splashes when
it boils.)
Additional Notes:
So,
you don’t have enough tomatoes to make a huge batch of sauce, but you
want some yummy home made pizza sauce to use on tonight’s pizza? Here
you go:
1. Wash and dice your tomatoes (You will probably need about 6 c
after they are diced), so there are no large pieces of peeling.
(Alternately, wash tomatoes and put into a large bowl. Pour boiling
water over, let set for a few minutes, and remove peeling. Then dice.)
2. Put tomatoes into a pan on the stovetop, and start cooking. Add
some sugar (1.5 T), salt (1/2 t), oregano (1/2 t), black pepper, and
basil (1/4 t). Those measurements are all approximate… just taste and
alter as you wish.
3. Simmer until sauce thickens (this will take at least an hour, so
make sure you have plenty of time!). You can hurry the process a little
by thickening with cornstarch (mix 1-2 T cornstarch with cold water or
reserved tomato juice, then add to boiling tomatoes, stirring
immediately to prevent lumps).
4. When sauce is to desired thickness, you’re done! Enjoy! 🙂
This recipe is from Tammy’s Recipes.
