I’m always willing to try new spaghetti sauce recipes to do something with the mountain of tomatoes I get every summer. I’ve been trying to find one that is close to the one my family likes that isn’t exactly kosher for canning. I found one on the Healthy Canning website, and this is about as close as I’m going to get. You can leave out the mushrooms, celery (or green pepper) if you like, and I did omit them all. I usually add mushrooms when I fix spaghetti, and while I’ve tried green peppers in some other sauces, I don’t really care for it in my spaghetti sauce. Everyone’s taste is different.

I used paste tomatoes in my recipe, but you can use whatever tomatoes you have available. If you use what I call canning tomatoes or the globe style, they contain much more juice, and you’ll have to cook your sauce longer to get a spaghetti sauce consistency. You can also adjust the dried spices to taste.

Spaghetti Sauce

30 pounds of tomatoes

2 tablespoons oil

1 cup finely chopped onion

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup chopped celery (or green pepper)

1 pound fresh sliced mushrooms (optional)

2 tablespoons dried oregano

1-1/2 tablespoons salt

4 tablespoons brown sugar (optional)

2 tablespoons dried marjoram

1 tablespoon dried basil

4 teaspoons dried parsley

2 teaspoons ground black pepper

Hull and peel the tomatoes and quarter them. Boil for 20 minutes, uncovered, in a large pot, then press through a sieve or food mill to remove skins and seeds. Set aside.

Put oil in a large frying pan. Add the onion, garlic, green pepper or celery, and mushrooms, if using. Let cook, stirring frequently, until union is translucent and mushroom slices have shrunk. Add to the tomato puree.

Add the seasonings from the oregano down to and including the black pepper.

Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer and let simmer uncovered until reduced by half. This will take approximately 2-3 hours.

Adjust seasonings to taste.

Ladle hot sauce into hot jars (either pints or quarts), leaving 1-inch headspace. Wipe jar rims. Apply lids and bands, tightening until fingertip tight.

Place jars in pressure canner. Process pints per your altitude for 20 minutes (25 minutes for quarts).

Yield: About 9 pints

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