Dried herb/spices don't pose any safety issues annie - unless you had more spices than tomato sauce maybe. :) So you can add as much as you wish.

But (there is always a 'but'), there is a real quality issue with them. Many of them become stronger during shelf storage and some can become downright terrible - bitter, sharp, sour, etc. Basil and oregano especially, sage, cinnamon, allspice too are often mentioned as "overwhelming" in a 6 month old jar.

So the general recommendation is to go easy with them when canning and then add more as needed after opening the jar at preparation time. No point in ruining the sauce.

Dave

I have an old Sunset canned tomato sauce (haven't made it in many, many years), but I do remember it was pretty "racy" for the bland 70's.

It called for 3/4 tsp. pepper, 3/4 tsp. rosemary, 1/4 tsp. anise seed (Sometimes I used fennel.), 1 tablespoon basil, 1 tablespoon oregano, and 1 tsp. paprika, 1 tablespoon sugar, 1 1/2 tsp. salt and 3/4 cup red wine per 2 pints.

It was potent stuff and darned good. Maybe this will give you some direction, but basically you're going to have to try a batch and see what happens as it sits on the shelf, so what I would do in a given batch is experiment with a jar or two and leave the rest "unadorned" to augment at time of service as Dave suggested. I wouldn't risk the whole batch until I see what I have.

Carol

Sorry. Those seasoning amounts are for 4 pints, not 2. I was looking at two recipes at the same time.

Carol

Also, it's kind of nice to have the plain stuff as a base to use for jazzing up as the mood takes you.