Host a canning party and get saucy
At our house, we have a fall tradition where we invite our closest friends over for a tomato canning party. It’s an assembly line of blanching, cooking and lots of laughing — and everybody, young and young-at-heart, can get in on the saucy action.
Cooking with a sauce that you made using a mountain of farmers’ market fruit is better for you than commercially canned tomatoes — and tastes better, too. The list of ingredients for this recipe couldn’t be simpler: fresh plum tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, and salt and pepper.
Want to throw a canning party? All you need are a couple of large pots, and some extra jars for your guests ( just in case!). Best of all? Everyone goes home with enough tomatoes for a year’s worth of sauce.
The following is the recipe for our homemade sauce, canning instructions not included.
Fresh Tomato Sauce
Ricardo Tested 12 cups (3 L) plum tomatoes (about 30 tomatoes), preferably San Marzano or Romanello
6 garlic cloves, peeled
1/4 cup (60 mL) olive oil
Make a small criss-cross incision at the base of tomatoes. In a pot of boiling water, blanch tomatoes for 30 seconds. Drain and cool in an ice bath. Peel and seed tomatoes.
In food processor, purée tomatoes with garlic, then add the oil, pulsing so as to retain some texture.
In a pot, bring tomato purée to a boil and simmer gently for 30 to 45 minutes or until the desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper.
Makes 4 cups (1 L).