If you have lots of extra ripe tomatoes in your pantry. Prepare your sterilised jars and lets make some Homemade Basic Tomato Sauce you can use for any of your recipe. Freeze and thaw whenever you need it. It’s yummy and all natural! Yes its very easy! But please dont put fresh basil leaves on top of the bottle if you plan to preserve it longer.
Heads Up: Make sure to prepare your sterilised jars prior to cooking.
Yield: 1.8L (2 quarts)
Homemade Basic Tomato Sauce Recipe
INGREDIENTS:
- 12 large ripe tomatoes, (double it if you have medium size)
- 2 green bell peppers, seeded
- 2 onions, chopped
- 2 carrots, chopped
- 6 ribs celery, diced
- 2 tablespoons fresh chives (or green onions/scallions)
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- Others:
- Prepare Sterilised Jars
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Prepare the Tomatoes: Score the tomato by making an X at the blossom end, then blanch in hot water. The X mark helps the tomato skin to split so that you can slip off the skin easily with your fingers.
- Then blanch the tomatoes, bring a pot of water to a rolling boil. Add the tomatoes and let them cook for a minute or two.
- Immediately submerge them in ice water, remove the skin once cooled. Just use a small knife, to slide the skin off.
- Then chop the tomatoes.
- COOKING TIME: Combine all the ingredients in a stainless steel, pan or casserole. Bring to a boil and simmer, uncovered, for 45 minutes.
- Puree in a blender.
BOILING WATER CANNING PROCESS:
This process is also known as a hot water bath or hot-water canning. Fruits, tomatoes, salsas, pickles, relishes, jams, and jellies are all prepared with it. It’s a fairly straightforward system, consisting only of a big pot with a rack for jars at the bottom.
In a boiling-water canner, jars are simply submerged in simmering water for the allotted amount of time. Jars are heated in a boiling water canner to 100°C (or 212°F). This temperature is sufficiently hot to destroy the bacteria present in high-acid meals.
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Transfer the sauce in the Sterilised Jars
- Pack the jar as tightly as you can with the sauce.
- Make sure to remove Air Bubbles.
- Insert a thin, flexible spatula down along the sides of the jar to remove any air bubbles.
- Leave ½ inch headspace in the jars.
- Use a clean, moist cloth to wipe the jar’s rim and threads to get rid of any residue that can affect the seal.
- Set the lid on the jar and screw on the band no more than fingertip-tight, just tight enough that you could turn the band another ¼ to ½ inch tighter. This is important for a proper seal.
- Start the Canning process: In a large pot with a rack, place the pint jars on the rack and fill it with water (water should be 1-2 inches above the jars).
- Start timing when the water starts to boil. Then just let it simmer for 35 minutes with cover (45 minutes for quart size jars). Remove jars from the canner and let them cool on wire racks.
- Never tighten the bands. Allow 12 to 24 hours for cooling. After that, test the seal by pressing your finger firmly on the lid’s center. It must be tight. It is not properly sealed if there is a popping sound.
COOKING NOTES:
- Shelf life: 1 year at room temperature.
- Refrigerated: must consume quickly
- Frozen: Up to 6 months
- In the Photo: The fresh basil on top of the bottles are just for presentation purposes. Do not put fresh leaves on the tomato sauce when preserving/canning.