Italian-Style Tomato Sauce
Italian-style tomato sauce is a simple seasoned tomato sauce with onion, celery, carrot, and garlic cooked right in. Make it with fresh plum tomatoes or store-bought passata, then water bath can it in pints.
Servings: 12 servings, makes about 3 pints
Equipment
- Large stainless steel or enameled pot
- Canning Jars, Lids and Bands
- Bubble remover
Ingredients
- 8 cups plum tomato purée or passata see notes
- 2/3 cup onion finely chopped
- 2/3 cup celery finely chopped
- 1/2 cup carrot peeled and finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
- 4 Tbsp bottled lemon juice
- 2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper freshly ground
- 1/2 tsp hot pepper flakes
Instructions
- Prepare the water bath canner, jars, and lids. Keep the jars hot until you're ready to fill them.
- If using fresh tomatoes, wash, core, and quarter them, simmer until soft, then run them through a food mill to remove the skins and seeds. Skip this step if using passata.
- Measure the tomato purée or passata into a large stainless steel pot.
- Add the onion, celery, carrot, garlic, lemon juice, salt, black pepper, and hot pepper flakes.
- Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring often.
- Boil hard, stirring often, until the sauce is reduced by about one third and slightly thickened, about 15 minutes.
- Ladle the hot sauce into hot jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.
- Release trapped air bubbles, check the headspace again, and wipe the rims clean.
- Set the lids on and apply the bands fingertip tight.
- Process pints or half pints in a boiling water bath canner for 35 minutes, adjusting for altitude (see notes).
- Turn off the heat, remove the canner lid, and let the jars rest for 5 minutes before lifting them out.
- Cool the jars undisturbed 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: Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving, Italian-Style Tomato Sauce, with everything added to the pot at once.
Tomatoes: Use fresh plum tomato purée or plain store-bought passata with no oil or garlic added. The book figures about 4 1/2 lbs plum tomatoes for 8 cups of purée. Milling fresh tomatoes adds about 30 minutes of prep.
Yield: About 3 pints. Measure the purée before cooking, and wash four jars in case of a partial jar.
Acid: The bottled lemon juice is what makes this safe to water bath can. Don't reduce it or swap in fresh lemon juice.
Vegetables: The onion, celery, carrot, and garlic amounts are fixed. Don't increase them or add other vegetables.
Seasoning: Salt, black pepper, and hot pepper flakes are for flavor only and can be adjusted or left out.
Reducing: Go by volume, not time. A wide pot reduces much faster than a deep one. Don't add flour, cornstarch, or other thickeners.
Jar sizes: Pints or half pints. No quart process is given.
Canning optional: Refrigerate the sauce up to a week, or freeze it in straight-sided, freezer-safe jars with 1 inch headspace.
Altitude adjustments: Water bath processing time for pints and half pints.
- 0 to 1,000 feet: 35 minutes
- 1,001 to 3,000 feet: 40 minutes
- 3,001 to 6,000 feet: 45 minutes
- 6,001 to 8,000 feet: 50 minutes
- Above 8,000 feet: 55 minutes
Nutrition
Serving: 0.5cup | Calories: 75kcal | Carbohydrates: 18g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 0.4g | Saturated Fat: 0.1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Sodium: 447mg | Potassium: 821mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 1833IU | Vitamin C: 22mg | Calcium: 40mg | Iron: 3mg