walnuthollow said:
Farmfresh said:
Yesterday:
Canned 8 quarts of thick roasted tomato and herb marinara sauce.
.
"Would you mind sharing the recipe for your marinara sauce?
Not at all!
I am a LAZY cook so this marinara is made in a crock pot!
Ma Zone Marinara
* Fill Crock Pot (the bigger the better) heaping full of tomatoes that have been peeled. I prefer using sauce types of tomatoes (like the heritage Amish Paste or Roma, but any tomato will work)Set the crock pot on LOW and go to bed. If you do not have a crock pot big enough or prefer another method I fill a roaster with tomatoes and put it into the oven at about 300 degrees Fahrenheit.
* Allow the tomatoes to cook until they begin to break down releasing their juices freely.
* At this point I usually dump the tomatoes into a large colander and drain off much of the liquid. Reserve about 2 to 3 quarts of this juice. (We like this runny tomato juice as a breakfast drink so I usually add salt, pepper and a dash of lemon juice and can it up.)
* Return drained tomatoes to the Crock Pot and mush them up. They will continue to break down and we prefer a somewhat chunky sauce. If you like a smooth sauce run the tomatoes through a blender then return to the pot.
* At this point I take usually 2 big onions and several (LOTS) of peeled garlic cloves. I place them in my blender or food processor with a bit of the reserved juice and let 'er rip! (You could also finely dice these ingredients.)
* Mix the onion and garlic into the tomato mush.
* Add lots of black pepper (I prefer coarse ground)
* Next I add the herbs. I always put in oregano, basil, (2T) rosemary (1T) and sometimes I add some chives, marjoram, lemon thyme (1t) or even a bit of spicy pepper flakes (1t). I grow my own herbs so they are always freshly dried.
* Stir well and let simmer until you can stand it no more.
* Finally I add 1/4 cup real lemon juice (which brightens it up a lot AND helps with the preservation) and salt. You know you have enough salt when you taste the sauce and it makes you "gleek!"
* Last adjust the sauce consistency by adding the reserved juice until it is the thickness that you prefer. I prefer it slightly on the loose side as it coats the noodles better! You can also leave it thick for pizza sauce.
This is a spicy herb sauce I NEVER add any sweetener or sugars. Try it first and see. Some may still want to add a bit of sugar.
Then I water bath can the sauce 25 minutes for quarts, 20 min for pints.
I have never had green tomato salsa before, but I really hope I like it since there is about 100lbs of green tomatoes 
