This sauce recipe comes to me from a friend who actually came out to show me personally how he does it. He is a chef of sorts, grows his own heirloom San Marzone tomatoes...hundreds of them each year...and boasts a beautiful outdoor wood-fired oven. He is the kind of guy from whom you want to learn how to make good pizza sauce.
I choose to put them in half pint jars, because a good pizza needs very little sauce. Since there is no preservatives in the jar, once you open it, it is a race against time. One jar will cover approximately 4 plate-sized pizzas.
This whole process takes several hours and makes your whole home smell wonderful. Lets get started...
Pizza Sauce
Ingredients
4 Tablespoons olive oil
2 cups chopped onion
8 cloves of garlic crushed
10 cups drained canned tomatoes ( I used a large commercial sized can.)
4- 12 oz cans tomato paste
4 Tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons dried oregano crushed or 4 Tablespoons of fresh oregano, crushed
4 Tablespoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon of fresh black pepper
1/2 T of bottle lemon juice
Instructions
1. In a 3-quart stainless steel pot over medium heat, heat the olive oil. Add the onion. Reduce the heat and saute until translucent, about 15 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent browning.
(Canning step 1- Put water into large into water bath canner. Heat on high.)
2. While the onions are cooking, prepare the garlic. Mince the garlic with a garlic press, or use a knife.
3. Add the garlic and saute 3 minutes.
4. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar, oregano, salt, pepper to the pan. Stir well to combine. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes, or until thick, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.
(Canning step 2- When water in water bath canner is boiling, carefully put clean jars, rings and lids into bath.)
5. Remove sauce from heat.
6. Process the sauce in a blender, in small batches, until smooth.
7. Return the sauce to the pan. Over medium heat, bring the sauce to a simmer.
8. Remove the pan from the heat.
(Canning step 3- Carefully remove jars from water bath canner.)
9. Put 1 teaspoon of lemon juice in each 1/2 pint jar, or 1 Tbls of lemon juice for each pint jar.
10. Ladle the sauce into hot jars, leaving about 1/2" head space. Using a plastic knife, remove any trapped air bubbles. Wipe the jar rims and threads with a clean damp cloth. I much preferred using this funnel that came with the Ball Utensil Set. It prevents dripping on the rim of the jar.
(Canning step 4- Carefully remove lids and rings from water bath canner.)
11. Cover with hot lids and apply screw rings.
12. Put half pint jars back in boiling water bath canner (with 1" of water over the tops) for 30 minutes, or pint jars for 35 minutes.
13. Carefully remove jars from water and let cool. You will hear them pop when the pressures subsides.
Now that you know how to can...what will you think of next? Enjoy!
