The perfect sauce to make the most of fresh summer tomatoes and basil. You can bottle it, freeze it or eat it right away. Perfect for pasta, on pizza, with meatballs, in spaghetti bolognese or in lasagne.
It's the March "made from scratch" challenge! If you missed the last ones, you can check out all of the previous challenge recipes here.
Bottling tomatoes is a reasonably new thing to me. I've always bottled fruit, made jams and chutneys but it was only since I started making tomato salsa and canning diced tomatoes that I've really discovered the whole new world that comes with bottling tomatoes.
Last year I used my garden tomatoes to make pasta sauces that I froze. This was an awesome way to do it but I am terrible at remembering to take things out of the freezer before I need them. This is one of the things that I love the most about canning or bottling. The jar is sitting on your shelf and can be opened and used immediately!
Plus, I get so much satisfaction from seeing jars of homemade preserves lined up on the shelf.
Because I know a lot of you are interested in canning, this is the tested recipe that I have been using out of the Ball Blue Book of Preserving. As you know, using a tested recipe when it comes to canning is crucial, particularly when tomatoes are involved. For more information on canning, check out this post.
If you are not into preserving, this recipe can also be frozen - the bonus of that is that you can add any extra vegetables while you are making it as they freeze well. Try carrots, zucchini, peppers or spinach. If you are canning, you can't change the ratios or just add in vegetables as you please as this will change the acidity of the recipe meaning that it may not be safe for canning.
Alternatively you can try my marinara sauce recipe - perfect for making a double batch of and freezing!
Equipment needed:
- Water bath canner or large stockpot with rack/trivet
- Jars, lids and bands
- A second large stockpot to cook the sauce in
- Chopping board, knife, tea towels, ladle, jar funnel
- Food mill or stick mixer/food processor
How to make the sauce:
- Prepare your water bath canner. Wash jars and lids and bands in hot soapy water. Keep the jars hot in the water bath and keep the lids and bands in a small jug covered with warm water.
- Wash the tomatoes, remove cores and cut into quarters. Set aside.
- Saute onion and garlic in olive oil until transparent. Add the tomatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Run the hot mixture through a food mill. Discard the skins and seeds. If you don't have a food mill you can puree it in a food processor or with a stick mixer. For a smoother sauce, after you have done this, press the mixture through a sieve to remove skins and seeds.
- Add the tomato puree back to the pot along with the basil. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until volume is reduced by about one third to one half, stirring to prevent sticking. This will take about 1 hour.
- Add ¼ teaspoon citric acid or 1 Tablespoon bottled lemon juice to each hot pint jar. Ladle hot sauce into hot jars leaving ½ inch headspace. Use a chopstick or small spatula to remove air bubbles. Wipe the rim clean and center the lid on the jar. Apply band and adjust until it is fingertip tight. Place jar in boiling water canner. Repeat until all jars are filled.
- Process pint jars for 35 minutes. Turn off the heat and remove canner lid. Wait 5 minutes, then remove jars and cool.
How to get creative:
While you can't adjust the amount of low acid ingredients such as onions and garlic in this recipe, you can experiment with herbs and spices. I did 3 different varieties of this sauce:
- ¼ cup fresh basil for a basic tomato basil sauce (this is how the recipe is written below)
- 2 Tablespoons fresh basil and 2 Tablespoons fresh flat leaf parsley
- Replace the basil with ¼ cup fresh coriander + add to each jar, 1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin, ½ teaspoon chilli powder, ½ teaspoon paprika, ¼ teaspoon garlic powder, ¼ teaspoon black pepper for a Mexican tomato sauce that I will use as a base for enchiladas or in nachos/burritos
This sauce is perfect for stirring through pasta, adding to cooked mince to make spaghetti bolognese or lasagne or even for using as a pizza sauce! It makes dinner quick, easy and so tasty!
Recipe adapted slightly from Ball Blue Book of Preserving
Tomato Basil Pasta Sauce
Equipment
- 8 pint/500ml glass preserving jars with lids and bands
Ingredients
- 9 kg tomatoes
- 1 cup chopped onion (about 1 medium)
- 6 cloves garlic , minced
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- ¼ cup fresh basil , finely chopped
- 2 teaspoons salt
- ¼ teaspoon citric acid or 1 Tablespoon bottled lemon juice per hot jar
Instructions
- Prepare your water bath canner. Wash jars and lids and bands in hot soapy water. Keep the jars hot in the water bath and keep the lids and bands in a small jug covered with warm water.
- Wash the tomatoes, remove cores and cut into quarters. Set aside.
- Saute onion and garlic in olive oil until transparent. Add the tomatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Run the hot mixture through a food mill. Discard the skins and seeds. If you don't have a food mill you can puree it in a food processor or with a stick mixer. For a smoother sauce, after you have done this, press the mixture through a sieve to remove skins and seeds.
- Add the tomato puree back to the pot along with the basil. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until volume is reduced by about one third to one half, stirring to prevent sticking. This will take about 1 hour.
- Add ¼ teaspoon citric acid or 1 Tablespoon bottled lemon juice to each hot pint jar. Ladle hot sauce into hot jars leaving ½ inch headspace. Use a chopstick or small spatula to remove air bubbles. Wipe the rim clean and center the lid on the jar. Apply band and adjust until it is fingertip tight. Place jar in boiling water canner. Repeat until all jars are filled.
- Process pint jars for 35 minutes. Turn off the heat and remove canner lid. Wait 5 minutes, then remove jars and cool.
- Remove the jars carefully from the water bath and let cool to room temperature. Check to make sure the jars have sealed correctly (if any jars haven’t sealed correctly, they will need to be refrigerated/frozen or re-processed).
Nutrition
Good recipe ... I always oven bake quartered tomatoes with de-skinned red capsicum, garlic, olive oil & seasoning ... this method really brings out the sweetness in the tomatoes.
Hi, our family have always made tomato relish and put into hot jam jars with pop lids that reseal. It does have a lot of sugar and vinegar in it though. Is that what makes the difference where relish can be kept this way, but a sauce as per your recipe can't be?
Cheers, Angie
Hi Angie, that's exactly it! The sugar and vinegar helps preserve things like relishes it without the need for water bathing (although I still water bath everything now, just for that extra peace of mind!
Hi, my Tomatoes are ripening slowly and sporadically, can I freeze them whole in say 2kg lots until I've enough to make this recipe, or will the consistency be affected by using defrosted tomatoes?
Hi Cassy, you can absolutely do this!
If I want to freeze the sauce, does the recipe still require the citric acid/lemon juice?
Hi Helen, no you can leave that out if you are freezing it!
Can I just add to mixture to hot jars and seal them with the bands? I don't have a canner like yours.
Hi Marion, not with tomatoes, they are a bit tricky when it comes to preserving. Any large stockpot will work but if you don't have anything suitable, you can freeze this sauce too.
I always make my pasta sauce (as per your recipe no lemon juice and put into j clean hot jars and seal). My tomato sauce is also just put in same clean hot jars. Never a problem.