Spaghetti Sauce for Water Bath Canning

By Tweed

If you want to find a good use of your fall tomato harvest then I recommend this excellent homemade sauce.

Ingredients

• 25 pounds tomatoes
• 4 large green peppers
• 4 large onions
• 4 cans tomato paste
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup salt
• 8 garlic cloves, minced
• 4 teaspoons dried oregano
• 2 teaspoons dried parsley flakes
• 2 teaspoons dried basil
• 2 teaspoons crushed red pepper
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 cup lemon juice, divided

Preparation

Step 1

Skin Tomatoes:

Core Tomatoes, and paper thin slice off the bottom. Then in a Dutch Oven, bring 8 quarts of water to boil. Use a slotted spoon to place tomatoes in the pot one at a time 30 to 60 seconds. Remove each tomato and immediately plunge in ice water. Peel & Quarter

In a food processor, cover and process peppers, onions & garlic until finely chopped. Cover a frying pan with a coat of Olive Oil and brown the garlic, peppers and onion.

In a 16 quart stockpot, combine the tomatoes, green peppers garlic, onion mixture, tomato paste, oil, sugar, salt, oregano, parsley, basil, pepper flakes, Worcestershire sauce and bay leaves. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat: simmer, uncovered, for 4 to 5 hours, stirring occasionally. Discard Bay Leaves.

Canning: Add 2 tablespoons lemon juice (or 1/2 teaspoon citric acid powder) to each of hot quart jars. Ladle hot mixture into jars, leaving 1/2 head space to the lid. Remove air bubbles, wipe rims, and adjust lids to finger tight. Process for 40 minutes in a boiling water bath.