Roasted Garlic-Balsamic Tomato Sauce 2014 (Recipe)

Start with:
10-12 roma tomatoes (frozen, whole)
23 slicing tomatoes (frozen, whole)
1L tomato skins and cores from other tomato-canning projects (frozen)
0.25C balsamic vinegar
0.25C white wine vinegar
0.25C granulated sugar
0.25C V8 juice (OPTIONAL)
 
Render the above into a cooked mess in the slow-cooker on “HIGH” – this actually took a couple of days, and I kept having to top up the number of tomatoes because my slow-cooker couldn’t take all of them at once. I would add them at a rate of five or six tomatoes at a time on top of what was already in there. If you have a larger slow-cooker, it will make this easier.
 
While the tomatoes cook down, dice:
1 long, red Sheppard Pepper (sweet pepper)
Half a red onion
3 bulbs of garlic (just cut the tops off these – much easier)
 
Set the diced veggies on a cookie sheet
Drizzle with grape-seed (or olive) oil
Sprinkle with salt
Roast for 30 minutes at 350F
 
Add the roasted veggies to the tomatoes in the slow cooker (make sure to squeeze the roasted garlic out of its skin and discard the skins)
Mix until well-incorporated (I was still adding frozen whole tomatoes at this point, so it took a while to get to the next steps).
 
Purree it all with the immersion blender
Strain through a seive – squish as much through as possible using, say, the back of a spoon
Return the sauce to the slow-cooker and set heat to “HIGH” again
Add:
0.25C balsamic vinegar
0.25C red wine vinegar
3 cloves raw garlic, minced
 
Optional:
1 tbsp tamari
1 tbsp each (dried): basil, oregano, rosemary, savoury
 
Allow to heat through and start bubbling
 
Sterilize your jars in a boiling water bath
NOTE: This should land you with about two litres of sauce, so choose your canning jars appropriately.
 
When the sauce is bubbling happily and everything is well-stirred together and smelling AMAZING, ladle it into the half-cup jars.
 
Cap and then process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.
 
Remove from the water bath and allow to cool.
(Listen for the “plunk” as each jar seals – this is important as it will mean it’s safe to store at room temperature. If a jar doesn’t seal, either stick it in the fridge and use it within the week, or dump it back in the pot, reheat it, re-wash the jar, and try again).
 
 
I got 15 half-cup jars of tomato sauce (having not added the tamari or the dried herbs – I forgot, alas, but they made excellent additions last year, so I would recommend them to you) from this batch of sauce that I’ve been rendering down for at least four days at this point.
Because of how “head room” works, if I’d been using pint jars instead of half-cup jars, I might have only got “six cups” of sauce, rather than the seven-and-a-half that I got doing it this way. None the less, that’s fifteen meals worth of tomato sauce that I’ve put up, and I’m quite happy about it. 🙂
 
I’ve still got nine half-cup jars left, enough for me to make a bunch of Cranberry Curd – thus finishing off my 2014 canning for the year – without having to collect yet more jars to get that done. 🙂
It will be delicious.
 
Eventually, I get on here to give the full run-down of Canapalooza 2014, but for now please enjoy the recipe. Next year, I’ll try to remember the seasonings. 😉
 
 
TTFN,
Meliad the Birch Maiden.