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Spaghetti Sauce

Source of Recipe

From "Blue Ribbon Preserves" by Linda J. Amendt


Recipe Introduction

"A jar or two of this flavor-packed sauce makes for a quick and easy dinner. If you like, add some browned ground beef or turkey to the sauce before serving. Because of the increased risks of contamination when canning any food containing meat, it is better to cook the meat and add it to the sauce just before serving. If you do decide to add meat to the sauce before canning, be sure to cook the meat thoroughly and add it along with the other ingredients prior to reducing the sauce. For a sauce containing meat, the headspace must be increased to 1 inch and the processing time must also be increased to 60 minutes."

List of Ingredients

• 15 pounds ripe plum tomatoes, cored and quartered or chopped
• 2 Tbsp olive oil or vegetable oil
• 1 cup chopped onions
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
• 1 cup red wine
• ¼ cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh oregano
• 1 Tbsp chopped fresh sweet basil
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper


Recipe

In an 8- to 10-quart stainless steel pan over medium heat, bring the tomatoes to a boil, stirring frequently. Reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, until the tomatoes are soft, about 20 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent sticking. Remove the pan from the heat.

Press the tomatoes through a food mill or fine sieve. Discard the seeds and skins. Set the pulp aside. Rinse and dry the pan.

Over medium heat, heat the olive oil in the pan. Add the onions. Reduce the heat and sauté until almost tender but not browned, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and mushrooms. Sauté gently until the mushrooms release their liquid and it evaporates, stirring frequently to prevent browning.

Add the tomato pulp to the pan. Stir in the wine, parsley, oregano, basil, salt and pepper. Over medium heat, bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the sauce is reduced by about half, or to the desired consistency. This may take between 1½ to 2 hours, depending on the liquid content of the tomatoes. Stir frequently as the sauce thickens to prevent sticking or scorching. Remove the pan from the heat.

Ladle the sauce into the hot jars, leaving ½ inch headspace. Using a plastic knife, remove any trapped air bubbles. If necessary, add more sauce to maintain ½ inch headspace. Wipe the jar rims and threads with a clean, damp cloth. Cover with hot lids and apply screw rings. Process pint jars for 30 minutes at 11 pounds of pressure in a dial-gauge pressure canner or at 10 pounds of pressure in a weighted-gauge pressure canner.


Makes about 4 pint jars