Marinara sauce is a new addition to my canning list this year. We do eat a lot of it, but usually just purchase a jar from Trader Joe’s which has no unnecessary additives on the ingredient list. But, this was a very good season for tomatoes in our garden, so I decided to try a batch of Marinara.
Most Marinara sauce recipes call for some type of paste tomato, only, such as Roma or San Marzano. I used both, but added some of my sweet heirlooms, as well. When the tomatoes are ripe and ready to process, I process! I did purchase a freezer recently, so I can try holding tomatoes until I get enough of one kind for a specific recipe, — but I do love to experiment with variety combinations and see what each year’s garden “tastes like”. It really does vary from year to year!
I find that the most important part of any canned tomato recipe is respecting the ratios suggested between the acidic tomatoes and the other non-acidic ingredients, such as onion, garlic and herbs.
I believe I used:
- 20# tomatoes, blackened under the broiler and then peeled
- 1-1/2 cups chopped onion
- 4 large cloves garlic
- 1 cup white wine
- 1 Tbl salt
- 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup finely chopped basil
- 1/4 cup finely chopped Italian parsley
- 1/2 cup bottled lemon juice
Run the peeled tomatoes through a food mill, then add the remaining ingredients. Simmer, reduce by 1/3 to 1/2.
Fill quart jars and process 40 minutes.