RJ Homestead

Mama Mia! That’s a delicious pizza sauce! Okay, I’m not sure if that amazing Italian accent translated through text but I tried! Since I am of mostly German heritage, anything Italian does not come naturally, which is why I am always so thankful to find an easy and delicious recipe I can not only make but can for long term storage!

Whenever I am making our weekly dinner menu, and I ask Eva what she would like, inevitably her answer is always “Pizza!” About 2 years ago we started making our own dough which was surprisingly easy, a fun way to spend time together, and a healthier option as we are able to make it fresh so no preservatives are needed. Around that same time, we were also blessed with an abundance of tomatoes from our garden so it only made sense that we also started making our own pizza sauce as well! We’ve also attempted to make our own mozzarella, which wasn’t so successful but we do plan to try again!

To our delight, the sauce was amazing! Eva, who is not the biggest fan of red sauce, even licks the spoon clean every time we make pizza. And, as always, I love knowing everything that goes into our sauce. Now, I will give credit where it is due. Many of the name brand sauces, according to their ingredient lists, seem to use “normal” ingredients and not bio-engineered food products or scary preservatives. However, I did glance at an off brand and noticed that instead of olive oil they used soybean oil and tomato puree (tomato paste and water) rather than fresh tomatoes. This may be nit picky but it just proves you get what you pay for. And what really suffers here is the nutritional value of your food, which is really what food is supposed to be about, correct? Food is designed to nourish our bodies; to give us energy. Food should be enjoyed, of course, but the true value lies in how it fuels our systems.

Okay, jumping off that high horse to move on to the recipe. We use our own dried herbs but of course store bought work just fine. We also omit the crushed red peppers as Eva does not enjoy spicy foods. We have also, substituted avocado oil for the olive oil when we ran out of olive oil (oops) and did not notice a difference in taste. Certainly you can adjust salt and sugar/honey to taste. Have some fun with the flavors and figure out what you like best!

INGREDIENTS:

• 22 pounds tomatoes fresh or whole frozen
• 3 cups chopped onions
• 6 cloves garlic minced
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 2 tbsp. dried basil
• 1 tbsp. dried oregano
• 1 tbsp. dried thyme
• 1 tbsp. black pepper (or to taste)
• 1 tbsp. sugar or honey (or to taste)
• 2 tbsps. salt (or to taste)
• 2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes (or to taste)
• Bottled lemon juice or citric acid: 1 tbsp lemon juice OR ¼ tsp citric acid for EACH pint and 12 oz. jar; ½ tbsp. lemon juice OR 1/8 tsp citric acid for EACH half pint jar.

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. To prepare tomato puree from frozen tomatoes: (assuming they were cleaned and cored before freezing) leave to thaw 24 hours; drain accumulated juices and put through strainer to remove seeds and peels.
2. To prepare tomato puree from fresh tomatoes: wash, core, and halve tomatoes; heat to boiling; put through a strainer to remove seeds and peels.

3. Make the pizza sauce: in a 12 quart or larger stockpot cook onions and garlic in olive oil over medium heat until onion softens, 5-10 minutes. Add tomato puree and all the seasonings (basil through pepper flakes if using), bring to a boil, reduce heat and cook for about 30 minutes, uncovered. Process with an immersion blender to make a smoother sauce (or carefully blend in batches).

4. Bring back to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, uncovered until sauce reaches desired consistency (reduced by ¼ to 1/3), usually an hour or two, depending on if you started with fresh or frozen tomatoes. Make sure you stir occasionally to prevent sticking. If you have a thin-bottomed stockpot, stir more often to prevent scorching.

5. To can: add the lemon juice or citric acid to each clean, warm jar, fill jar with sauce leaving ½ inch headspace, wipe rim and attach lid ands and rings until fingertip tight. Place in canner rack and repeat with remaining jars to fill canner (keep sauce and jars warm, as you will need to do a couple of canner loads if using half pint jars).

6. Process both pints and half pints for 35 minutes in a boiling water canner.

7. Remove to a towel lined surface and let sit undisturbed for 24 hours before checking seals, labeling and storing in a cool, dark place.

The only thing left to do now is grab your favorite toppings, hop over to our homemade pizza dough recipe, and plan your next family pizza night! Whether it’s a cozy pizza for two kinda evening or the kids will be getting their little hands in the dough, everyone will appreciate the quality time (and food) you get to have together! Enjoy!

Also, please stop by our facebook page and give us a “like” there. We post some additional content there, and we’re always happy to respond and answer any questions you may have! You can also find me on GAB, https://gab.com/jungerer!