I had never canned a thing in my life! I actually didn’t know people actually still did this. So believe me, once I went home to go to my parents one-weekend last summer I was shocked that my mom was almost to start the method.
So, in fact, I wanted in on this awesomeness! I remember as a child, my mom and grandma always having canned tomatoes. But I had no idea she was still doing it. to not mention, she wasn’t just canning tomatoes but was also making and canning HOMEMADE MARINARA SAUCE!!! Jackpot!
I am unsure who was more excited, me or my mom, that we were actually getting to be cooking together within the kitchen.
She had just received plenty, and that I mean plenty of tomatoes from a family friend and said it might be enough to form enough marinara sauce to last throughout the year. Having three little ones, I jumped on this. I mean what little kid doesn’t love spaghetti?! to not mention what proportion money I might be saving by making my very own.
So we began. First, we filled an outsized pot with water, added it to the stove and turned the warmth on high. We began to feature the tomatoes to the water as soon because the water began to boil. They spent time within the water for about 30 seconds or as soon because the skin began to peel faraway from the tomatoes.
This process continued until each tomato had been dunked within the boiling water bath. once they were far away from the water, we peeled the skin right off. it had been very easy and didn’t take any time in the least. I do know it sounds very time consuming and tedious, but it really wasn’t.
The next step was the simplest part. Throwing all the ingredients into a pot and letting it simmer away. Just a couple of garlic cloves, green bell peppers, onions, and skinned tomatoes. Allow them to hold out for nearly 2 hours.
Next, we ladled the mixture into a blender and pressed go and smoothed everything out. Once that step was complete we poured the mixture back to the pot and added some more yumminess, sugar and fresh basil leaves to call a couple of. We allowed this to simmer for a further 2 hours then it had been time to start the scanning process.
First things first, you want to have some mason jars to can your goodies. We cleaned each jar then this was the interesting part. We filled up an outsized pan with water and brought it to a boil. We added the jars to the boiling water alongside the lids and rings. They took a boiling water bath for fewer than a moment. Why do this? Well, you want to get the jars to an equivalent temperature because of the marinara sauce. Or the jars will crack.
When the jars were removed, we quickly added the marinara sauce one jar at a time and placed the lids on top and tightened the rings.
Then the amazing part happened. We sat and waited for every jar to form a popping sound! this is often what guarantees the freshness and therefore the ability for the jars to hold a call at your cupboard for long periods of your time without spoiling. It’s kind of sort of a vacuum that sucks the freshness inside the jar not allowing any bacteria to ruin your sauce.
This process not only created a delicious outcome, but it saved me a year’s worth of cash on marinara sauce, to not mention the memories I made with my mom.
