Question - Tomato Sauce

17 years ago

I'm trying to get my recipes organized for canning on Sunday!

I'm down to two basic tomato sauce recipes from which I'm deciding (below). They are extremely similar! So, I was thinking that I really could probably combine them. 1. I like the idea of roasting the tomatoes before I use them, so couldn't I just roast the tomatoes for the Italian Seasoned Sauce?

2. I would also like to use fresh herbs from my herb garden. Can I use the typical 1 teaspoon dry = 3 teaspoons fresh substitution for herbs in canning? Do they have an effect on the acidity?

3. Speaking of herbs, can I use some thyme in the Italian Seasoned Tomato Sauce eventhough it doesn't call for that, or should I just add it in when I use it?

4. Going by another tomato sauce recipe that I've seen, I'm assuming 20 (good size) Roma tomatoes are about 5-6 lbs. Do you think that's a good assumption?

Thanks so much for all your help! I'm going for it on Sunday - Next week...Bellini Jelly, Annie's Salsa, and I'm starting the Tomato Sauce. ~ Paige

Recipes:

Italian Seasoned Tomato Sauce

10 pounds tomatoes

3 onions, finely chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon each basil, oregano, Italian seasoning

1 tablespoon salt

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon sugar

Bottled lemon juice or citric acid

Instructions

Prepare BallÂ® or KerrÂ® jars and closures according to instructions found in Canning Basics.

Wash tomatoes; drain. Peel, core and cut into small pieces; set aside. SautÃ© onions and garlic in olive oil in a large saucepot. Add tomatoes and seasonings. Simmer about 2 hours, stirring occasionally. Press mixture through a sieve or food mill; discard seeds. Cook pulp in a large, uncovered saucepot over medium-high heat until sauce thickens, stirring to prevent sticking. Add 1 tablespoon bottled lemon juice or 1/4 teaspoon citric acid to each pint jar.

Roasted Tomato Sauce

20 Roma tomatoes, halved Â 5-6? lbs

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon onion powder (or to taste)

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder (or to taste)

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

Bottled lemon juice or citric acid

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Place tomatoes on a large baking sheet cut side up. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, spices and herbs. Bake uncovered 2 hours. Turn oven to 400 degrees and bake another 30 minutes. Remove from pan and process through a food mill.

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Comments (8)

gamecock_girl
Original Author
17 years ago
I just noticed the EVOO in the Italian Seasoned Tomato Sauce...I know to leave that out!
laura_sue
17 years ago
I believe that the olive oil is used for saute'ing the onions and garlic. I don't know if you could do that in a dry pan. maybe just use them raw if you didn't want to use the oil.

BTW this is the recipie I use. I then use the jars when I make spagettie sause. DS say's it's the best there is.
ksrogers
17 years ago
A teflon coated pan, as well as a light spray of PAM or other non-stick spray will help to reduce the issue of adding oils in canning.
mellyofthesouth
17 years ago
I've been able to saute onions without oil in a non-stick pan by adding a bit of water now and then if it looks too dry. It isn't quite the same, but works.
gamecock_girl
Original Author
17 years ago
That's good to know about the oil. I probably would just use a tiny bit of pam, probably or nothing at all.

What about the fresh herb substitution? I really would prefer to use my fresh herbs.

Also, do I really have to simmer the tomatoes for 2 hours, if I roast them first, they are going to be rather soft anyway for my strainer?
gamecock_girl
Original Author
17 years ago
Just bumping...
mellyofthesouth
17 years ago
gamecock girl,
Check out this thread. Helenore had a similar question. I don't think it was answered outright, but there is a collection of recipes you can look at, some of which had amounts for fresh or dried herbs. The usual conversion is 1 tablespoon of fresh for 1 teaspoon of dried.
Melly

Here is a link that might be useful: to tweak.. thread
ksrogers
17 years ago
Use more of the fresh herbs compared to dried, as they are more concentrated. If you plan to add basil, use only a couple of whole fresh leaves in each jar and not cut up. This way you and remove them once its opened, and you add fresh basil to the finished cooked sauce. To roast tomatoes, there are two methods, the first is they get roasted whole and the skins just fall off so you remove them. Then you can cook down the liquid in the oven or on the stove in a big pot, and strain if you don't want the seeds. The other option is to use a a food strainer like the VIllaware and it takes out all the skins and seeds beforehand. Then roast the liquid thats left in the oven, in a large flat pan to thicken it some.