Every summer I grow and can (cook and seal in jars) some tomato sauce / soup to last the rest of the year.
I call is sauce / soup because I use the same basic recipe for everything and then depending on what I use it for later on, like a chilli etc I will add in a few extras at the last min. I love this idea of having a really nice (which is why you can eat it as a soup) base and then the option to make it into something else down the line, it keeps things simple at the preserving stage.
I use a Weck water-bath canner for sealing my tomato sauce / soup so that it last the maximum amount of time it can. Water-bath canners are great for any kind of acidic food preserving. You can also just us a large saucepan of water to seal your jars too.
Here’s my recipe…
Ingredients:
- 2kg tomatoes (I grow and use beef-heart tomatoes for this reason)
- 2 medium onions, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. brown sugar
- 2 tsp. dried oregano (because I grow a ton of it I add it to everything, but you can use any herb you prefer)
- 6 tsp. olive oil
- The juice of 1 medium lemon
- 1/4 tsp. chilli flakes or powder (optional)
- 1 tbsp. of balsamic vinegar (optional)
Directions:
- If using a Weck water-bath canner or a large pot of water, put these on to bring them up to boiling point.
- Cut tomatoes in half or quarters so they are all a similar size and lay out on an oven tray(s).
- Sprinkle with salt and olive oil and bake on a medium heat for about 30mins, or until you can see the skins are wrinkled and softened a little.
- Allow to cool down and then pour off the excess water in the oven tray.
- Whilst the above is cooling down gentle fry the onions until soft and golden and for the last min or two add in the garlic, don’t let it burn!
- Once the tomatoes have cooled down remove the skins and discard these.
- Add the tomatoes and all other ingredients to the onions and garlic and warm through.
- Using a stick blender blend the tomato sauce / soup until it’s smooth.
- Fill hot jars with hot sauce / soup (leaving 1 cm of space at the top) making sure there are no air bubbles and you wipe around the rim of the jars well, then put lids on your jars tightly.
- Lower these jars into your Weck or saucepan full water, making sure you have water above the tops of the jars (I like to have about an inch of water above them).
- If this stops the water boiling, allow it to come up to boil again before setting a timer for 40mins.
- After 40mins remove your jars from the water and place on a towel to cool down overnight. You can now store these for at least a year. However, if the seal is broken use these within a few days of removing from the water.
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