Transforming Tomatoes
From time to time, I still get recipe requests from my predecessor here at the Winston-Salem Journal. Such requests are a testament to the reputation that Beth Tartan established in this community through over 40 years of food writing.
(I can’t help but wonder what Beth would think of a food blog on the Web.)
Sadly, the paper did not file her recipes in any meaningful way, so filling requests for long-ago recipes is a challenge to say the least.
Recently, though, I was able to stumble upon a recipe that a reader requested from 1979 for pizza sauce.
This makes a huge amount. Considering that it is tomato season and people can easily get their hands on 10 pounds of ripe, fresh tomatoes, I think it’s worth sharing.
I’ve updated the recipe slightly to reflect modern canning methods.
Unfortunately, the original recipe doesn’t say how much this makes. My guess is it is close to 7 pints.
If you don’t want to go through the extra step of canning, you could freeze the sauce instead.
For some other recipes using fresh tomatoes, see my July 30 story in the LIfestyles/Food section of http://www.journalnow.com
Pizza Sauce
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 medium onions, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
10 pounds tomatoes, peeled and cored
1 tablespoon dried basil
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon sugar
1. Heat oil in a large sauce pot over medium-low to medium heat.. Add onion and garlic. Cook until tender, but do not brown.
2. Chop peeled and cored tomatoes in a food processor or blender. Add tomatoes, basil, oregano, Italian seasoning, salt, red pepper, black pepper and sugar to pot.
3. Simmer sauce for about 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
4. Press sauce through a food mill. Press push through as much liquid and pulp as possible. Discard seeds.
5. Return sauce to pot and cook uncovered over medium-high heat until sauce thickens. Watch carefully and stir often to make sure sauce does not stick to bottom of pot and burn.
6. Prepare home canning pint jars and new lids according to canner directions. (For safety, to ensure the proper acidity and preservation, add one tablespoon bottled lemon juice or 1/4 teaspoon citric acid to each pint before canning.) Pour hot sauce into hot pint jars, leaving ½ inch headspace. Wipe jar rims clean, then place lids on. Add screw bands and hand tighten. Process 35 minutes in water-bath canner, following canner directoins. (The processing time gets longer for elevations above 1,000 feet. Consult a canning guide for details.)
