Marinara Sauce Recipe

We have a bumper crop of roma tomatoes in our little garden this year!  Of everything that we've planted this has by far done the best.  We have been so blessed that we have had to support our cages with sticks and are on the verge of supporting the sticks with rocks the plants are so heavy with little green globes waiting to ripen in the warm summer sun!

I came across this recipe [via the VintageMixer] to try this year.  Hopefully our results are as good as the reviews on their page!

[I have always been taught to be careful with tomatoes and tomato sauces because of the risk of botulism with their pH not being acidic enough if you use hot water canning, however with the addition of the White Wine, this method should work, although you could process in a pressure canner if you would prefer.]

White Wine Marinara Tomato Sauce Recipe for Canning

Yield: 8 quarts or 16 pints

Ingredients

• 24 lbs roma tomatoes, 1 case
• 3 stalks of oregano, chopped
• 8-10 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
• 4 cups olive oil
• 3 large onions
• 9 cups white whine
• 6-8 stalks of basil, whole
• 2 teaspoons of salt
• 6 tablespoons of lemon juice
• more salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Cut tomatoes in half, remove hard core and stem, and scoop the seeds out into a separate bowl, set aside. Lay tomato halves in roasting pans, cut side up.
3. Scatter the garlic slices and oregano on top of the tomatoes. Drizzle with half (2 cups) of olive oil and Roast for 40 minutes at 350 degrees.
4. When tomatoes are almost cooled, remove the skins from the roasted tomatoes (they should be easy to remove at this point). Placing skins in the bowl with the seeds and the roasted tomatoes in another large bowl.
5. Meanwhile, heat remaining 2 cups of oil in a large stockpot and add onions and white wine. Simmer until reduced by half (15-25 minutes).
6. Mash the roasted tomatoes with your hands (this is the fun part!) then stir them into the simmering onion mixture.
7. Pour tomato seeds and peel into a sieve over the tomato sauce pot, pressing them so that their juice drips into the pot. Discard seeds and peels.
8. Bring to a boil then add whole basil stalks and 2 teaspoons of salt. Lower heat and simmer for 40 minutes or more to thicken.
9. Remove Basil. Add lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste.
10. Pour simmering sauce into sterilized jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace in the jars. Process in a hot water bath for 40 minutes.