Three Tomato Vegetable Sauce Canning Recipes

THREE TOMATO VEGETABLE SAUCE (CANNING)

Steps:

• Combine tomatoes, garlic, celery, carrots, onion, zucchini and green pepper in a large pot. Add 3/4 cup water and bring to a boil.
• Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 25 minutes until sauce begins to thicken.
• Soak sun-dried tomatoes in boiling water until softened. Drain, chop, and add to sauce.
• Add wine, vinegar, bay leaves, salt, oregano, basil, sugar and peppers.
• Continue to boil gently until sauce is desired consistency. This may take up to an hour.
• Discard bay leaves and stir in parsley.
• Ladle sauce into hot sterilized jars to within 1/2 inch of top and seal.
• Process in a hot water bath 35 minutes for pints, 40 minutes for quarts.
• Yield will vary according to your ingredients.
• Use on pasta adding fresh herbs, grated cheese and/or additional vegetables. Add a protein such as beans, sausage or tofu for a complete meal. Stir into soups or stews. Add to casserole dishes. This sauce can be used in many ways.
• Time does not include processing time.

CANNED CHUNKY TOMATO AND VEGETABLE SAUCE

Steps:

• Place 9 x 370ml jars with a wide neck in the dishwasher and wash at 65-70 C (around 149 F). Don't wash the lids in the dishwasher if they are new, just wash with hot soapy water.
• Meanwhile, wash all the tomatoes and peppers and scrape the zucchini lightly leaving some colour.
• Peel and chop the onion and peel and mince the garlic.
• Chop the tomatoes, peppers and zucchini into small chunks depending how chunky you want your sauce.
• Throw everything into a large stock pot and bring to the boil stirring every now and then so that you don't get any pieces stuck on the bottom. Once the tomatoes start to cook, the juices are released and you don't need to stir.
• Add the salt and remaining spices and allow mixture to boil over medium heat for about one hour.
• When the mixture has thickened to your liking turn off the heat but leave the sauce on the hotplate. It must not cool down.
• Dry the washed jars and their lids. The jars should still be slightly warm from the dishwasher.
• Fill each jar to just under the brim and seal carefully. Immediately turn jar upside down.
• Repeat until all the jars are filled.
• When the jars have cooled turn the right way up and store.
• This makes a mild sweet sauce which is very nice with pasta especially as a sauce in vegetarian lasagna.
• Edited: Since discussing canning techniques on the forum I felt I should mention that this method is appropriate for tomatoes in Greece which have a high acidic content. They do not spoil even without processing in a water bath. Traditionally Greeks make tomato sauce with tomatoes and salt, nothing else. Furthermore I don't remove the peel or seeds from the tomatoes as they are sweet and do not detract from the flavour. If your tomatoes are different then please process them so that they do not spoil and peel if you know that the skin will be bitter.