Canned Tomatoes & Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

Have you canned fresh vegetables before?  Only after I moved to small-town Iowa did I get to experience this rewarding task.  I really walked quite blindly into it, but now it is something I look forward to doing – especially when you have a partner in crime – like Mom! Ha!  She asked me if I wanted to get out those mason jars and start cutting up tomatoes.  It’s just so nice to grab beautiful jar from the pantry shelf – year round…and that’s exactly what I did a few weeks later for Spaghetti Sauce! 🙂

We started off with our big box of tomatoes.  

We had several stock pots going with boiling water.  Once the tomatoes skins begin to peel (approximately 7-10 minutes) then they are ready to be removed and cooled in a strainer.

After peeling the tomatoes, I handed off to Mom to be the master carver for cutting out the bad spots and the core.  Then she divided the tomatoes into smaller pieces.

Next we filled our jars with tomatoes and water.  We used a butter knife to get rid of any air bubbles – this is a small but important step.  Lastly, we put them back to cook in a hot water bath for the remaining sealing process to begin.

The other night, I was trying to decide what to make for supper.  I thought spaghetti with fresh tomato sauce sounded so delicious, and it was!  I went to pantry and grabbed a jar.  Then I used the recipe below for the Homemade Sauce.  It is so refreshing, and has some fantastic herbs that leave your home smelling wonderful.  Enjoy!

5 from 3 votes

Canned Tomatoes & Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

Print Recipe

adapted from The Rustic Foodie

Prep Time:5 minutes mins

Cook Time:15 minutes mins

Total Time:20 minutes mins

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. basil fresh
• 6 cloves garlic minced
• 1 t. oregano dried
• 1 lb. canned tomatoes
• 1 small onion
• 1 t. thyme dried
• 1 8 oz can tomato sauce
• 1 pkg. pasta
• 1/2 t. ground pepper
• 1 t. salt
• 1 T. sugar
• 2 T. olive oil
• 1 T. butter

Instructions

• Heat 2 T. olive oil to medium heat in a large pot.
• Add the garlic and onion and saute for 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently.
• Add the canned tomatoes to the pot and saute in garlic and onion for 4-5 minutes, stirring often. This will cause the tomatoes to break down and soften a little bit. At this point, you can take a potato masher, and start to smash the tomatoes. They will continue to break apart as they cook - about 10 minutes.
• Add tomato sauce, chopped basil, dried oregano and thyme. Smash them into the sauce.
• Add 1 T. sugar, 1 t. salt, and 1/2 t. pepper.
• Cook for another 5 minutes or so.
• Prepare pasta according to package directions.
• Add 1 T. butter to sauce. Add more seasonings as desired.
• Serve on top of cooked pasta. Garnish with fresh Parmesan and basil.

Servings: 6

Author: Molly

Here’s more favorite tomato recipes:

Fresh Tomato Mozzarella Salad

Granny’s Tomato Pie

Fried Green Tomatoes

Tomato Pickles

Robust Tomato Soup

Baked Tomatoes and Mozzarella

Bruschetta

Fresh Salsa