I get very giddy when I find other ways to use tomatoes from my garden, because I always have plenty when the season ends. I can some of them whilst they still green, some of them are roasted in the oven and now some of them will be used in canning homemade spaghetti sauce.

Of course we have to make the homemade spaghetti sauce first before we can it. Then we pull out the water bath canner to do the canning. There are some health warnings regarding canning tomatoes, but you should be ok if you just add some lemon juice to maintain acidity in each jar.

Here’s What You’ll Need:

• fresh tomatoes
• onions
• oil
• tomato paste
• sugar
• salt oregano
• italian seasoning mix
• spaghetti sauce mix
• food mill
• food processor
• large pan
• chopping board
• knife
• canning jars
• funnel
• kitchen towel
• canning utensils
• water bath canner
• bubble remover
• magnetic wand
• jar lifter
• lemon juice

I prefer mine chunky so I skipped the food mill, and went straight to putting my clean cut tomatoes into the large pan. The garlic and onion (which made me cry) is chopped and sauteed in a frying pan, before running through the food mill.

The onion and garlic mush is added to the tomatoes in the pan, along with the rest of the ingredients. Bring the mixture to a boil until the sauce thickens, it is about 2 hours. Do not forget to continuously stir the mixture.

While the sauce is cooking, you can prep your jars and lids, washing them in hot water and leaving them to dry. Then put them in some hot water in the sink, to keep them warm as you fill each one with the sauce up to half inch below the lid. Remove any air bubbles that maybe trapped in the sauce.

Wipe the jar rims, and screw on the lids before placing them in the water bath canner. For quart jars, you can process them for about 40 minutes in the canner. Let cool for at least 5 minutes before placing them on the kitchen towel to seal. Store in a cool dry place.

You can follow step by step instructions on the DIY Village blog, here…

How To Can Spaghetti Sauce

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