Roasting tomatoes, onions, and garlic for home made spaghetti sauce.
Everyone is always looking for the "Best" home made spaghetti sauce recipe. But here's the thing - there is no perfect recipe. There can't be one perfect recipe, simply because sauce depends on the tomatoes. They are the star.
What you add will depend on the tomatoes that year - some years the crops will be better than others. This year we had SO much rain - rain nearly every day. The tomatoes are not as flavorful as last year. (We noticed the same with the sweet corn). Is my sauce still good? Yes, it's quite good - but it's just not as good as LAST years sauce, when the tomatoes were absolutely fantastic.
There's no amount of seasoning, and no secret ingredient, that you can add to make up for lackluster tomatoes.
So what type of tomato do you want for sauce? Most will tell you San Marzano. And if I were buying them canned, that's what I would look for myself. But, my mother plants between 400 and 700 tomato plants every year, in numerous varieties. By hand. Oh yes, that's insane, plain and simple - she's in her 70s now, and finally cutting back on how many she plants not because of her age, but because so many of her customers have now passed away - not as many people can tomatoes anymore.
One wagon of plants. All planted from seed, started in racks on a large sunporch.
But, because I have access to so many varieties - I mix them up as much as possible. I like the variety in my sauce. I do use some romas - but I am not dependent on them and frequently will make sauce without them.
My suggestion is always to shop local. Don't try to make sauce with grocery store tomatoes. Find a local farmer who will sell you half a bushel of local grown tomatoes. A farmers market is often a great place to start looking - but make sure you ask where their tomatoes came from. Many of our local farm stores, and even some farmers market stands, buy their produce at auctions - produce shipped in from other states for the grocery stores. Trust me - I attend the local produce auction here. I see the trucks unloaded, it's often the exact same thing stocked in the big box stores, being purchased by the farmers market vendor. [some local produce is also sold at this auction... our Amish neighbors sell their produce there - so it's not all from another state. ]
Planting by hand.
Roma tomatoes, what my mom calls "sauce" tomatoes, are shaped more like a pepper than a tomato, not as round. They are thicker, with less water and fewer seeds, making a thicker, creamier sauce.
Once I have chosen my tomatoes - usually a good mix of varieties - I core them, and place them in pans, along with cloves of garlic and sectioned onions. I sprinkle it all liberally with olive oil, salt, pepper, and a little garlic powder (scant amounts of garlic. Garlic and herbs can make a sauce bitter if overcooked, so go easy on the seasoning at this stage)
The above photo shows a mixture of pans, but really the baking pans are best. there will be LOT of juice, and you will likely need to clean your oven if you use cookie sheets..
Roast at 450 until they are well, good and roasted. I never time these things - I think a lot varies by the size of the tomato, the number of items in the oven, how accurate your oven temperature is.. I'd tell my kids to cook them until they smell done [I say the same about sticky buns] - but apparently cooking by smell is not normal. A good rule of thumb is to check them in 30 minutes. If they look close to done, add some herbs if you want (basil, oregano, maybe a little thyme and garlic) and cook them another 10 minutes or so.
Then pull them from the oven I drain the juice from the pans right into my crock pot /pan /roaster, where my sauce will go.
Then let the tomatoes cool enough that you can touch them to remove the skins.
I remove the skins and drop the tomatoes right into my ninja (a regular blender would work). Puree the tomatoes, pour them into the pan/crockpot/roaster where the juice is.
I puree the roasted garlic and onion and add it to the sauce, and this is when I will add more herbs - often just a bottled italian seasoning mix. I don't add much. Keep it simple. Add, taste, add, taste... I know some prefer exact measurements, but what if your basil is more potent one year than the next? Or if the tomatoes need a bit more salt one year? You just have to add, and taste!
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The Seasonings I Typically Add:
Remember, the olive oil was on the tomatoes when I roasted them, that's already in there. So is the roasted garlic, and roasted onion, that I cooked right with the tomatoes.
- Celery Seed
-Fresh chopped Basil and Oregano - or dried Italian seasoning mix. Or a little both.
- Salt and pepper
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I sometimes add a little tomato paste - maybe a can or two per a roaster. Sometimes I don't add it at all - it depends on the tomatoes. The more romas I use, the less likely I am to add paste.
Because I roast the tomatoes, I do not add sugar. You can taste it and make that decision, but roasting the tomatoes pulls out the natural sugars, it's rare that they would need any added.
Sauce goes into the electric roaster on the right - some of the tomatoes I put straight into sterilized jars to can as whole roasted tomatoes for chilis, soups, goulash...
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I leave the seeds in my sauce. There are methods for removing the seeds - but I don't mind them. I've read that seeds can cause sauce to be bitter, but I've never had a problem with that personally.
I don't cook my sauce for a long time - maybe an hour or so. The tomatoes have already been roasted... normally I am just leaving the sauce simmer a bit while I am waiting on the canner. Remember, cooking your seasonings a long time - especially oregano, basil and garlic, can make your sauce bitter. If you want to cook the sauce down more, wait to add your herbs until its mostly cooked to the consistency you want.
One in the jars, add ¼ tsp Citric Acid or 1 Tbsp bottled lemon juice per hot jar
If your sauce goes bitter, try adding a teaspoon or so of baking soda.
Or a little sugar.
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HOW TO CAN SPAGHETTI SAUCE
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After using a large water bath canner for many years (I have my grandmothers old pan and rack) my parents bought me this steam canner for Christmas, a few years back - shown here without the lid on. I LOVE this thing. It's how I do all of my "water bath" canning now. https://amzn.to/3Ep4sSF
"Add ¼ tsp Citric Acid or 1 Tbsp bottled lemon juice to each hot pint jar; Add 1/2 tsp. Citric Acid or 2 Tbsp. bottled lemon juice to each hot quart jar. Ladle hot sauce into hot jars leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. Wipe rim. Center hot lid on jar. Apply band and adjust until fit is fingertip tight. Place jar in boiling water canner. Repeat until all jars are filled.
Process pint jars for 35 minutes and quart jars for 40 minutes. Remove canner lid. Wait 5 minutes, then remove jars and cool. check lids for seal after 24 hours; they should not flex up and down when center is pressed.
The Ball Guide To Water Bath Canning [for acidic foods] Can be found online here:
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STEAM CANNING INSTRUCTIONS
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Hot pack and fill jars according to directions for that food. Set each full jar on the base to stay warm while packing and filling the rest of the jars.
When the last full jar has warmed up for 1-2 minutes, place the dome on the base and slowly (4-5 minutes) increase the temperature setting of the stove until a column of steam 8-10 inches is evident from the small holes at the base of the dome. (If you are using a canner with a thermometer in the lid watch for when the dial reaches the appropriate temperature)
Begin timing the process. Follow the water bath canning recommendations adjusted for your altitude.
Maintain the column of steam. The dome (or lid) should not bounce from the base during processing.
When processing time is complete, turn off the stove and wait 2-3 minutes before removing the dome. Remove the dome keeping it away from your face and body to avoid burns.
Allow your jars to cool and seal as you would with water bath canning. Remove metal bands and store the jars in a cool dark place.
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