Eggplant Puttanesca (Canning Recipe)
Eggplant puttanesca sauce is a chunky pasta topping made from roasted eggplant, tomatoes, olives, and capers. It's the tested Ball recipe with their published correction applied, water bath canned in pints.
Servings: 24 Servings, Makes about 6 pints
Equipment
- Canning Jars, Lids and Bands
Ingredients
- 6 lbs paste tomatoes as purchased, see notes
- 2 lbs eggplant cut into cubes, see notes
- 3 large onions unpeeled, quartered
- 3 large red bell peppers halved and seeded
- 1 1/2 cups kalamata olives pitted and chopped
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 2 cups dry red wine
- 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar 5% acidity
- 5 Tbsp capers drained
- 1 Tbsp anchovy paste optional
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
Instructions
- Prepare the water bath canner, jars, and lids. Fill the canner and set it over heat before you start prepping, since it takes a long time to reach a boil.
- Heat the oven to 400 degrees F and line three rimmed baking sheets with foil. Leave the tomato sheet ungreased.
- Wash and core the tomatoes, cut them in half, and arrange them on the first sheet. Roast about 45 minutes, until the skins just begin to char.
- Halve and seed the bell peppers and set them skin side up on the second sheet. Quarter the onions with the skins on and add them skin side up and add them to the second sheet.
- Cut the eggplant into 1 inch cubes and scatter them around. Spray the sheet lightly with oil. Add them to the third baking sheet.
- Roast the second and third sheet about 30 minutes, until the eggplant is golden and the peppers are tender.
- Let everything cool on the pans until you can handle it, then slip the skins off the tomatoes, peppers, and onions and discard them.
- Chop the tomatoes coarsely, keeping the seeds and juice, and put them in a stock pot that holds at least 6 quarts.
- Coarsely chop the roasted onions and peppers and add them to the pot along with the roasted eggplant.
- Add the wine, balsamic vinegar, olives, capers, garlic, anchovy paste, salt, oregano, and black pepper. Stir well.
- Bring the pot to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes.
- Taste and adjust the dried seasonings if you want to. Leave the wine, vinegar, and vegetables as written.
- Ladle the hot sauce into hot jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.
- Release trapped air bubbles, check the headspace again, and wipe the rims and threads clean.
- Set the lids on and apply the bands fingertip tight.
- Process pints for 45 minutes in a boiling water bath canner, adjusting for altitude (see notes).
- Turn off the heat and let the jars rest in the canner for 5 minutes before lifting them out.
- Cool the jars undisturbed on a towel for 12 to 24 hours, then check the seals, remove the rings, label the jars, and store them in a cool, dark place.
Notes
Recipe source: The All New Ball Book of Canning and Preserving, page 181. After the book went to print Ball added the balsamic vinegar and lengthened the water bath from 35 to 45 minutes, and the amounts here are the corrected ones.
Yield and measuring: The tomatoes give about 3 lbs after roasting, peeling, and seeding, or 6 cups chopped. The eggplant roasts down to about 1 lb, or 5 cups. Expect 6 pints and wash seven jars.
Acid: The red wine and the balsamic vinegar together are what make this safe to water bath can, against a heavy load of low-acid vegetables. Neither amount can be reduced, and the balsamic has to be labeled 5% acidity.
Produce: Use paste tomatoes such as Roma or San Marzano, since slicing tomatoes thin the sauce. Any eggplant variety works, skin on, cut in even cubes, with no salting or draining.
Vegetables: The tomato, eggplant, pepper, and onion amounts are fixed. Nothing goes in on top of them and none of them gets increased.
Substitutions: Green olives stand in for kalamatas at the same volume, the anchovy paste can be left out, and dried seasonings are free to adjust.
Jar sizes: Pints or half pints. No quart process is tested.
Canning optional: Refrigerate the sauce up to a week, or freeze it up to a year.
Altitude adjustments: Water bath processing time for pints and half pints.
- 0 to 1,000 feet: 45 minutes
- 1,001 to 3,000 feet: 50 minutes
- 3,001 to 6,000 feet: 55 minutes
- 6,001 to 8,000 feet: 60 minutes
- Above 8,000 feet: 65 minutes
Nutrition
Calories: 72kcal | Carbohydrates: 10g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 0.2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 1mg | Sodium: 404mg | Potassium: 395mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 993IU | Vitamin C: 18mg | Calcium: 30mg | Iron: 1mg