Canned "Ragu" Sauce

[Garden Green]

12 lbs. tomatoes
3 c. onions, cut up
1 1/2 c. celery, cut up
1 1/2 c. green pepper, cut up

Blanch, peel, cut tomatoes in 1/2 crosswise and squeeze out some juice. Mix with onions, celery and green pepper. Add:

1/2 tsp. garlic (or 1 clove)
5 tbsp. chili powder
1/8 bottle Tabasco sauce
2 tbsp. Italian seasoning
1 tbsp. oregano

Cook until vegetables are done. Put through a sieve. Return to a heavy kettle.

Add:

2 cans condensed tomato soup
1 (12 oz.) can plus 1 (6 oz.) can Hunt's tomato paste

Add:

1 tbsp. canning salt
1 tsp. pepper

Bring to a boil. Cook until thick. Put in jars and seal. Put in a canner of hot tap water. Bring to boil and start timing: pints 30 minutes; quarts 35 minutes.

[HomesteadBaker]

Sounds great! This is done in a hot water bath canner?

[Garden Green]

Yep! Hot water bath for these guys is just the ticket!

[HomesteadBaker]

With 12# of tomatoes, how many quarts does this recipe make?

I am already getting garden seeds organized and ready. Do you grow your own tomatoes? If so, what kind do you like best for this recipe?

[Garden Green]

This should make about 6 quarts of sauce. Sorry I omitted that!

I do grow my own (we won't talk about the disaster that was the upside down tomato my father insisted I try to grow last season either) and I've experimented and have found that Romas do good. Actually, they are one of the best because of their nice fleshiness.

Amish past is a good heirloom variety for sauces, too. If you're looking for a rainbow of sauces: Green Zebra, Black Krims, Aunt Ruby's German Green, and I think I've never seen a Brandywine, regardless of color, that didn't make a good sauce.

And I've been told that San Marzanos are excellent, but I haven't gotten around to testing that advice out yet.

I don't think that it would be difficult to make just about any tomato into sauce if one put enough time and effort into it but that is just it, time and effort. And I'm sure there are a host of other tomatoes out there that are just as wonderful for sauces as well!

[HomesteadBaker]

Great, thanks!

I always grow Brandywine... then add a few various others. This year I am trying the original Rutgers as well. I once tried Cosmonaut Volkov (purchased from Fedco) and thought they were pretty good... I may grow a few of them this year, too.

[Garden Green]

Let me know if you make sauce out of the Cosmonaut Volkov or the Rutgers and how it turned out. I'd be interested to know.

[boyd3]

This should make about 6 quarts of sauce. Sorry I omitted that!

I do grow my own (we won't talk about the disaster that was the upside down tomato my father insisted I try to grow last season either) and I've experimented and have found that Romas do good. Actually, they are one of the best because of their nice fleshiness.

Amish past is a good heirloom variety for sauces, too. If you're looking for a rainbow of sauces: Green Zebra, Black Krims, Aunt Ruby's German Green, and I think I've never seen a Brandywine, regardless of color, that didn't make a good sauce.

And I've been told that San Marzanos are excellent, but I haven't gotten around to testing that advice out yet.

I don't think that it would be difficult to make just about any tomato into sauce if one put enough time and effort into it but that is just it, time and effort. And I'm sure there are a host of other tomatoes out there that are just as wonderful for sauces as well!

Darnit! Now I am hungry :cool:

[gardengirl72]

My husband is going to be so happy. I am still perfecting my sauce, but he loves canned ragu!