Ive had a pretty good tomato harvest this year,, which was pretty surprising cause of the weather. At the first frost,, I picked all the green ones, and let them ripen inside,, Ive already canned 15 quarts of them, not counting the vine ripened ones I have done. Im set on canned maters for 2 -3 years. So,, I need a recipe for spaggetti sauce, from the maters that are left,, and can I can them with a water bath which is what I do with the maters? Thanks

-- stan (sopal@net-port.com), October 14, 2001

Answers

I wouldn't water bath if you are using vegs. I know, they use to and I did to 20 years ago, make spagetti sauce with vegs add enough citrus to it water batch 60 plus minutes. Now, I make my favorite spagetti sauce with all the left over vegs. onions, peppers, and pressure cook. It is delicious!! But Pressure cook it....

-- Debbie (bwolcott@cwis.net), October 14, 2001.

Put a couple hot peppers per qt and can them. Makes great chilli this winter.

-- Mel Kelly (melkelly@webtv.net), October 14, 2001.

I use the recipe in the Ball canning book. It has onions and garlic but no other veggies so it can be water-bathed. For ten pounds of tomatoes, you use three cups of chopped onions and at least three garlic cloves. Saute the onions and garlic in 3 TBSP. of oil, then add the tomatoes (I usually core them first, then cook in a separate pot for 15 minutes or so to soften, then put through a food mill to get rid of some seeds and skin. I've also pulsed them in a blender which pretty well dissolves the skin.) Add herbs and spices as you see fit (bay, oregano, salt, pepper, I add cumin, coriander, and cayenne as well). Cook down until it's as thick as you like. Then water bath for 35 min. per quart. If you want other veggies, add them when you eat it.

-- Katherine (KyKatherine@Yahoo.com), October 14, 2001.

PASTA SAUCE - for freezing Wash tomatoes. Cook in boiling water until skins split. Put through food mill. Put juice & pulp into thick bottomed pan & cook on low until desired thickness. Half way through add lots of fresh minced garlic, italian spices, oregano, salt & pepper to taste. When mixture is near desired thickness add diced green peppers, yellow & green summer squash, finely chopped onions & lots of chopped fresh basil. Add sugar to taste (a must say Italian friends of mine when cooking tomatoes). Simmer approx. 1/2 hour more taste & adjust seasonings. Cool & put in containers & freeze. Not adviseable for boiling water canner - pressure canning canning only.

-- Jan Sears (jcsears@magma.ca), October 14, 2001.

I've canned about 50 jars (mixed quarts and pints) of sauce this season and always do it the same way. I peel the tomatoes (pour boiling water over tomatoes, cover and let sit for a couple of minutes and the skins will slip right off), remove seeds (using a foodmill as someone else noted above), and then cook the pulp until it's the thickness I want. (The more you cook it, the richer it becomes. I start with about 10 quarts of tomato pulp and end up with about 3-4 quarts of sauce, taking about 8 hours of simmering.) At this point, I don't add anything to them. I then can the sauce using a regular water bath canner. It's when I use the sauce that I add the flavorings to it. I find it's more flexible this way - I can use it for spaghetti sauce, chili, tacos/mexican dishes, etc. and vary the seasonings to suit my whims! Oh, I also try to use only plum or paste tomatoes; I think it gives a thicker sauce. Hope this helps.

-- Elizabeth Moulton (eamoulton@hotmail.com), October 15, 2001.