How to Make and Preserve Homemade Italian Tomato Sauce

How to Make and Preserve Homemade Italian Tomato Sauce

 

This recipe makes about 6 (16 oz) pints.

This recipe delivers traditional Italian flavor with no oil and balances the quantity of low-acid vegetables with added acid (lemon juice) for water-bath canning. Altering ingredients or quantities may result in an unsafe product due to a change in the pH balance.

How to Make Homemade Italian Tomato Sauce

  1. Combine 1 cup of tomato purée, onion, celery, carrot, and garlic in a large stainless steel saucepan.
  2. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring frequently. Reduce heat, cover, and boil gently until vegetables are tender, for about 5 minutes.
  3. While maintaining a steady boil, add the remaining tomato purée, 1 cup at a time, stirring frequently.
  4. Stir in lemon juice, salt, black pepper, and hot pepper flakes. Increase heat to high and bring to a full rolling boil; boil hard, stirring frequently, until mixture is reduced by one third, about 15 minutes.

How to Preserve Homemade Italian Tomato Sauce

In a Canner

  1. Prepare boiling water canner. Heat jars in simmering water until ready for use. Do not boil.  Wash lids in warm soapy water and set bands aside.
  2. Ladle hot sauce into hot jars, leaving ½-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and re-measure headspace. If needed, add more sauce to meet the recommended headspace. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Apply the band and adjust until the fit is fingertip-tight.
  3. Process filled jars in a boiling water canner for 35 minutes, adjusting for altitude. Remove jars and cool. After 24 hours, check lids for seal. The lid should not flex up and down when the center is pressed.

In a Freezer

When the sauce has cooled, seal the container and freeze. BPA-free plastic containers, resealable plastic freezer bags, or freezer-proof glass jars work great for freezing the sauce. Using plastic bags is the easiest and fastest for thawing; they also stack nicely in a wire freezer basket. Jars and plastic containers offer a little more protection against freezer burn, so they are better for longer-term freezing. The sauce will last for at least a year in the freezer.

You will need

  • 16 cups fresh plum tomato purée
  • 1 ⅓ cup finely chopped onion
  • 3 ⅓ cup finely chopped celery
  • 1 cup finely chopped carrot
  • 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 8 tablespoon bottled lemon juice
  • 4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon hot pepper flakes
  • 6 Ball® (16 oz) pint glass preserving jars with lids and bands 
  • Water Bath Canner or  Ball® freshTECH Electric Water Bath Canner + Multicooker 

Directions

  1.  Canning the All-Purpose Tomato Sauce
  2. Before filling each jar with tomato sauce, add lemon juice or citric acid to the hot jar in the quantity specified below:
    Pint: ¼ teaspoon Ball® Citric Acid or 1 tablespoon bottled lemon juice
    Quart:  ½ teaspoon Ball® Citric Acid or 2 tablespoons bottled lemon juice
  3. Add dried herbs (optional) to each jar.
  4. Ladle the hot tomato sauce into prepared jars, leaving ½ inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if necessary, by adding hot sauce. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip tight.
  5. Place jars in the canner, ensuring they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil and process pint jars for 35 minutes and quart jars for 40 minutes. Remove canner lid. Wait 5 minutes, then remove jars, cool, and store. For each quart jar of thin sauce, you'll need about 5lbs of tomatoes.

Looking for an all-purpose sauce recipe? We have that too! HOW TO MAKE AND CAN ALL-PURPOSE TOMATO SAUCE

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