The tomatoes seem early this year? In fact I can’t ever recall making sauce this early in August, yet here I am with bushels of tomatoes that need to be turned into delicious homemade sauce and salsa. There’s been a couple of different recipes for sauce over the years, and this one is always met with great fanfare from my family.

INGREDIENTS

• 20 lb tomatoes (about 60 medium Roma are great but most will do)
• 1 cup chopped onion (about 1 large)
• 8 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Cayenne Pepper (fresh & optional if you prefer non-spicy)
• 1 small or 1/2 large red pepper
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/4 cup finely minced, fresh basil
• 1 Tbsp of dried oregano
• 1 Tbsp bottled lemon juice per hot jar
• 2 table spoons Worchester Sauce (surprising I know)
• 1 table spoon dark brown sugar
• 7 (16 oz) pint glass preserving jars with lids and bands

DIRECTIONS:

• Sterilize your containers, many dishwashers have a sterilize function – use it! Heat jars and lids with containers lain directly on the rack.
• Wash tomatoes; drain. Remove core and place a small X in the bottom.
• Boil water, and prepare a bowl of cold water nearby
• Blanch tomatoes by dropping into the pot of boiling water for approx 2 min.
• Drop tomatoes into the bowl of ice water. Skins should easily come loose – discard skins.
• Saute onion and garlic in olive oil until transparent. Add tomatoes.
• Puree all remaining vegetables and spices in a food processor or blender and add to the sauce
• Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until volume is reduced by half. Tomatoes burn EASILY so ensure to continuously stir.
• Add one 1 Tbsp bottled lemon juice to each hot jar. Ladle hot sauce into hot jars leaving 1/2 inch headspace.
• Remove air bubbles. Wipe rim. Centre hot lid on jar. Apply band and seal tight. I’ve found the heat from very hot sauce is enough to seal most jars. That being said if you don’t have a decent cold cellar or cool dark space to keep canned items I recommend using a boiling bath canner to complete the process. See instructions here