1) IF USING FROZEN TOMATOES:

Remove tomatoes from freezer and allow to thaw overnight in large bowl or pot, they are going to sweat a lot so if you have the bags sitting in something it will collect all that water for you and save you from cleaning up a big mess. Usually takes 12-24 hours to fully defrost.

​

  1.A) Once tomatoes are fully defrosted, remove from bag and save defrosted water/juice to feed to your plants, you can literally pour the water directly on-top of the soil! Your plants will lovvvee it! Remove skins from tomatoes, they will peel right off since they are defrosted and soft and then you can save the skins for your composter! Collect tomatoes in a large bowl until they all are peeled.

​

2) IF USING FRESH TOMATOES:

Bring separate large part 3/4 full of water to a boil and fill a large bowl with ice water and set aside. Once the water is to a roaring boil (working in batches) carefully submerge tomatoes in water, do not overfill the pot. Let boil in the water for 30 seconds to a minute, then using a slotted spoon remove tomatoes from water and submerge in ice water bath. Allow to cool down in water until cool enough to handle, then remove/peel off skins and collect tomatoes in a separate bowl until ready to blend.

​

3) NEXT STEP FOR BOTH FROZEN AND FRESH TOMATOES:

Fill food processor or blender ½ - ¾ full then blend until desired consistency is reached. I prefer my sauce very smooth, so I blend mine until no chunks remain. But if you prefer your sauce chunky, pulse blend your tomatoes. Pour each batch into the heavy bottomed stock pot until its about 60-75% full, no more than that as it will boil over.

​

4) Once your pot is filled, bring sauce to a boil, stirring occasionally and making sure to scrape the bottom of the pot when stirring. Once it comes to a roaring boil its going to foam up like crazy and I mean crazy, that's why you don't want to fill it too much or you'll have a bunch of scorched sauce all over your stove (I only know from experience lol). Bring it down to a medium heat, stirring constantly and allow the foam to boil off, it will take a few minutes as its boiling off the starches in the tomatoes. Once the foam boils off it wont foam up again so you are good to lower the heat to medium-low and stir every 10 minutes. I tend to like my sauce thicker, so I'll allow my sauce to boil down for about 30 min-1 hour, sometimes longer depending on how big of a pot I am using (the bigger the pot, the more the sauce, the longer it takes to boil down).

​

5) While your sauce is cooking down, prep your jars and water-bath canner. CANNING TIP: Since you'll have to process this sauce in hot water for longer than 10 minutes (45 minutes total) to make it shelf stable, you actually don't have to sanitize the jars lids and rings before hand, which is arguably one of the best things about this method of preserving. Fill bottom of each jar with a tablespoon of the bottled lemon juice, (bottled is an important factor, do not use fresh lemon juice). Set jars aside until ready to ladle sauce into them. Now prep the canner by filling the large 10 quart stock pot half way with water and place on stove.

​

6) Once the sauce has reached desired thickness, turn off the burner and begin adding the spices. Now, I wish I could tell you exact measurements of each but it really is done all by taste and since everyone's taste is different, it only makes sense to add the amount to your own personal liking! Start out with sugar, salt and pepper- for large batches (large enough to fill all 9 pint jars), I usually start with a half cup of sugar, 1 tbls of salt and 1 tbls of coarse ground pepper. Trust me on the sugar, that's what makes this sauce THE BEST!!! Then I start adding my spices in at 1-2 tbls increments. Obviously you'll wanna do more of spices like herbs, garlic and onion power but less of spices like chili and paprika. You can throw garlic cloves in at this point too. Just remember, you can always add more spices if its bland but you cant take it away once its added, so start small, taste it and add more as needed. If I can stress anything its to PLEASE TASTE TEST AS YOU MAKE IT, that's the biggest advice I have to say when making your own pasta sauce.

​

7) Now that you've got the best tasting sauce ever, its time to preserve it so it can hang out in your pantry (for up to 18 months) until you are ready to use it! I value this because my freezer space is dedicated to freezing tomatillos, shredded zucchini & tomato harvests and other things like sourdough bread and milk. It also lasts a lot longer in the pantry as it would become freezer burnt after a few months. Working with one jar at a time, place the mason jar funnel in the jar, then use the ladle to spoon sauce into the jar until reaching the top, leaving 1/2 inch head space in top of jar. Using a damp towel or paper towel, wipe the rim of the jar free of any sauce, place the lid on top of the jar and screw the ring on tight but do not over tighten. Fill all the jars up and use the mason jar tongs to carefully submerge all jars into the water bath canner and make sure water is at least 2 inches above the jars.

​

8) Place lid on pot, bring to a roaring boil and process in hot water for 45 minutes. Finally, turn off the heat and allow jars to hang out in water for 5 minutes. Using mason jar tongs, carefully remove jars from hot water and place on counter to rest undisturbed for 12 hours. Then label with date and place in pantry! Enjoy!