I originally made this recipe as part of a recipe challenge group. It was one that I needed to figure out how to make for our shelves. It has now become a go to recipe every year because of the amount of tomatoes I plant and our love for the fresh flavor! Now we don’t use a ton of pizza sauce, but I have a hard time finding one that’s not only gluten free and tastes good! So this was a definite “to do” on my list. But then I looked at the ingredients and thought I’ll start with something easier – Ketchup.. oh silly me! This recipe was really easy to do and made 7-8 pints! We’re stocked for a good long time! This sauce isn’t as “thick” as commercial sauces but we used it with dinner and it was delicious and fresh!
Ingredients:
- 30 tomatoes -I did a combination of Roma and Vine Ripe, flavors I prefer
- 2 large onions, minced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon cracked pepper
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
- 1 tablespoon oregano
- 1 tablespoon basil
- 1 teaspoon rosemary
- 1 teaspoon celery seed
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon summer savory
Directions:
- Peel, core, seed and puree your tomatoes. Easy instructions on how to blanch and core your tomatoes can be found here.
- Put olive oil in deep pan and saute the minced onions and garlic until transparent.
- Add the tomato puree and the rest of the ingredients; stir well to blend.
- Cook on low until mixture is reduced by half, stirring occasionally.
- This will take at least 2 hours. That’s the hardest part – waiting!
- When sauce is done and nicely thickened, ladle into prepared pint jars, clean the rims of the jars leaving 1/4 inch head space. Lid and seal.
- Process using the instructions below for 25 minutes.
Canning Instructions:
- Place 8 clean pint jars on a rack in your stock pot. Fill the jars and stock pot with cool water until it completely covers the top of the jars. Cover and put on medium heat. Simmer but do not boil.
- Prepare 8 lid sets, put the bands aside and put the flat lids in a small sauce pan and put on medium heat. Do not boil, but keep warm through the whole process.
- Prepare your ingredients according to the directions above.
- Now, remove the jars from the warm bath. Tip them as you pull them out and pour the water back into the pan. Place them on a towel on the counter with the opening up. Do not dry them! Just put them down and put the funnel in. Put your ingredients in your jars. into each jar until there is about 1/2 inch of space in the top. Once all jars are full, take a plastic or wooden utensil and move it around to get extra air bubbles out.
- Take the small magnet tool and remove flat lids from their hot bath. Place over top of each jar. By hand screw on the collars, but not too tight! Remember some air still needs to get out of each jar.
- Place the jars back into the hot stock pot and replace the lid. Turn your temperature up to high. When it starts to do a rolling boil, start a timer for 25 minutes.
- After the jars have processed for 25 minutes, turn off the heat and remove the lid to the pan. Let cool for 5 minutes. Remove all the jars without tipping them and place them back on the towel. Remember – don’t towel them off!
Do you know how many pounds of tomatoes you used?
I want to say 15. But I’m not 100% sure!
Are the herbs used in this recipe based on fresh or dried measurements?
dry herbs 🙂
Water bath canning is not adequate for this sauce, pizza/pasta sauces should ALWAYS be pressure canned.
I water bath my spaghetti sauce and the family lives it! I’ve done it for years! I use lemon juice in mine to water bath! It is adequate for my family and it taste GREAT!
Tomatoes are that grey area – if they are acidic enough it is no problem, and like Shenell I add a bit of lemon to boost it. Never have had a problem!
How long would you water bath 1/2 pints
The same 25 minutes will work perfectly 🙂
Cooked this yesterday and WB’d it today using 1/2 pint jars. I only processed it for 10 minutes and all the jars popped and sealed. This is some of the best pizza sauce that i have ever tasted. I am on Weight Watchers and this would fall into the 0 points range. (Yea!) I really love this stuff, and i am printing the recipe now so that i will always have it! Thanks!
This is a really good sauce. I just added fennel seed to it. I’ve made about 16 pints of it. Delicious!
This pizza sauce is awesome. Easy to make. This is my second year making it. Thank you!!!