Spaghetti with Meat Sauce

I searched and searched, but it seems that we have run out of spaghetti sauce, a major event in this house.  Spaghetti is one of the few things my 5 year old autistic son will eat, and it must be "Red" sauce for him to even give it a second glance.

The tomatoes in my garden aren't anywhere near ready to harvest and I really am not in love with using store bought tomatoes to can with.  I'm not knocking anyone who does, but I am somewhat of a vegetable snob.  Vegetable?  Is a tomato a fruit or a vegetable?  Hmmm we can visit that later on.  I decided to break into the San Marzano tomatoes that I canned last August.  They are so beautiful and I have been admiring them for so long, but alas they are for eating and so they must become spaghetti sauce for the boy.

The recipe I used calls for 30 lbs of fresh tomatoes.  I looked around the web a little and found this Handy Dandy Conversion from Simply Canning:

28 oz can = 10-12 tomatoes = 2 lbs

14 1/2 oz can = 5-6 tomatoes = 1 lb

So I grabbed 15 quarts of my previously canned tomatoes, my glorious beautiful scrumptious tomatoes, and went to work.

I followed the recipe from the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving using the conversion for home canned tomatoes.

DISCLAIMER - This is the way I can Spaghetti Sauce.  I have done research prior to canning it and verified times and pressures in the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving.   I always recommend that everyone do their own research and verifications in regards to canning.  Always keeping safety in mind.  

Supplies:

Pressure Canner

Pint or quart jars, lids and rings

15 quarts home canned tomatoes 

2 1/2 lbs ground beef or sausage

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup chopped onions

1 cup chopped seeded green bell pepper or celery

1 lb mushrooms sliced (optional)

4 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

1/4 cup lightly packed brown sugar

2 tbsp dried oregano

4 tsp salt

2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Here is what I did:

First I put the tomatoes through my Kitchen Aid vegetable strainer.  You can also use a fine sieve or food mill.

Save the seeds, skins and pulp that is discarded in the pureeing process and
 stay tuned for a tutorial on how to make tomato powder with them.

Then in a large sauce pot I browned the sausage over a medium heat breaking it up with a fork, until no longer pink.  I use sausage as my family prefers it over ground beef in our sauce.

I drained off the excess fat and added the garlic, onions, pepper and mushrooms.  I used a 1/2 cup of red pepper and 1/2 cup of celery in place of the green bell pepper.  Saute until vegetables are tender, about 3 minutes.

Then I added the tomato puree to the meat mixture and added the parsley, brown sugar, oregano, salt, and pepper.  I brought it to a boil and the let it simmer stirring occasionally. How long you let it simmer is up to you.  I like my sauce to be pretty thick, so I let it simmer for several hours.

While the sauce is simmering I prepared my jars and lids.   I always give my jars a quick wash in some warm soapy water. Rinse well and then fill with about 1 or so inches of  hot water and set them in a roasting pan.  I put the roasting pan into the oven and set the heat at 250 degrees.  This will keep the jars warm and sterilize them. They must be in the oven for 30 minutes to be sterilized.  I then placed the lids into a small pan of hot, not boiling, water on top of the stove and leave them until I am ready to use them. 

Once the sauce was to my liking I ladled it into the hot jars, leaving 1 inch headspace after removing the air bubbles. Then I cleaned the rim of the jar with a paper towel dampened with white vinegar.   I place the lids on and the rings finger tip tight and then placed into my prepared pressure canner. 

I processed the spaghetti sauce at 10 lbs pressure 60 mins. for pints and 70 mins. for quarts.  10 lbs is the pressure for my elevation.  Make sure to check for your correct pressure.

After processing I turned off the heat and allowed my pressure canner to return to zero as per my pressure canner's instructions.  I then removed the jars and set them on a dish drying mat and listened for the magical ping. 

I waited 24 hours and then removed the rings, washed them up, labeled them and put them away.

We are now stocked up with enough spaghetti sauce to get us through until our tomatoes are ready to harvest. 

Happy canning everyone and remember to check back for the tomato powder tutorial!