20 lbs of Tomatoes = 3 Jars of Non-Shelf Stable Tomato Sauce?

Yup, 20 pounds of tomatoes gave…3 jars of sauce.

Note: DO NOT USE THIS RECIPE FOR CANNING! USE THE ORIGINAL AND MAKE A JUICY, SEEDY PUREE INSTEAD OF DRAINING THE BLANCHED AND SEEDED TOMATOES TO MAKE THEM SWEETER AND DENSER! If you make this recipe keep it in the fridge or even better, freeze any you won’t eat within a few days.

So this made just 1 quart (1 litre) and two small 250mL jam jars of the stuff for me. Where’d the rest go? Into 2 jugs of tomato juice. My stomach burned happily for two days drinking that stuff. Then it burned unhappily for one more. Then I stopped drinking tomato juice. There’s only so much a person should drink. And there’s only so much tomato sauce a person should make. At least with this recipe, apparently. But it’s one heck of a powerful tomato sauce. Pure, rich, chunky tomatoes with onions and garlic, or purée it for a smooth, dense paste to coat your noodles, top your stuffed peppers, or eat by itself with a fork.

I made this recipe because it was from Barbara Kingsolver (author of the much praised Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, and queen of local, seasonal eating. Goodness knows she’s canned enough vegetables. Well, not enough, but certainly a lot, and I don’t think she should ever stop) and it was called “Family Secret Tomato Sauce.” I like being invited into a family’s inner sanctum of recipes. Also, it was explicit about canning safety, which is so important when using online canning recipes. For example, did you know you shouldn’t use oil if you’re canning tomato sauce? Not even to soften the onions and garlic. And don’t mess with the lemon juice, even if you like a sweet tomato sauce. AND don’t add extra fresh vegetables as it can muck with the pH of the sauce and make it unsafe to can. You can freeze it no problem, though – sweet or acidic, with fresh peppers, mushrooms or garlic as you like. The recipe is supposed to make 6-7 quarts (litres), which means that if you drain the tomatoes as much as I did, or cook it down to reduce the liquid as much as I did it becomes:

1. Unsafe pH-wise, but amazing for the freezer, and

2. Much more dense.

Ingredients:

7 quarts (28 cups!) tomato puree (about 20 pounds tomatoes, but re-weigh AFTER peeling, seeding, and juicing the tomatoes if you’re going to can it using the original recipe!)
3 large onions, chopped
2/3 cup dried basil
1/3 cup honey
3 tablespoons dried oregano
2 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon ground dried lemon peel

1 1/2 tablespoons thyme
1-1 1/2 tablespoons garlic powder (or more, to taste. Powder, not fresh garlic!)
1 1/2 tablespoons dried parsley
1 1/2 teaspoons pepper
1 teaspoon cinnamon (some people hate cinnamon, but it makes the sauce taste less acidic in the end, so optionally ignore it if you’re not canning and don’t like it)
pinch of nutmeg

Take a big pot and blanch 20 pounds of tomatoes in batches for 1 minute per batch to break the skin. Remove to a bowl of ice water after 1 minute and peel when cool. Then break apart the tomatoes with your hands and remove some of the juice and the bitter seeds. Purée the tomatoes, or chop roughly if you like a chunky tomato sauce.

Now get everything else chopped and measured and ready to go. Soften the onions in a huge pot over low heat. They should release liquid and cook in their own juices, but add a little water if they start to stick. No oil! When the onions are soft (taste one and make sure it’s not crunchy or your sauce will eternally be crunchy onion sauce), add the chopped tomatoes and all the seasonings, bring to a boil, and turn the heat to low to simmer for two to three hours, or until sauce is as thick as you like it. You’re not supposed to cover, since the liquid should reduce, but if it’s reducing too quickly since you drained the juices a little, partially cover the pot. Stir often, since you don’t want 20 lbs of tomatoes to burn. Remove from heat, let cool, and store in glass jars (do not can!)

To can you add 2 tbsp of lemon juice per litre jar, but if you’re eating the sauce fresh or freezing it you can skip the lemon juice, or add it directly to the sauce to taste.