Hearty Meal In A Jar

In my brother's compost garden, tomatoes rot on the vine before they're picked. Though I've done my best over the years to ease his burden, snagging as many ripe tomatoes as I could pile on salads and sandwiches, it's never enough.

Last year, in a twist of irony, my brother skipped the tomato garden, and I learned how to can. Buying a full-share membership in a CSA (community-supported agriculture) for just two people had something to do with my sudden interest. What to do with all of the cucumbers, onions and tomatoes? So I bought a giant pressure canner and learned how easy it is to make my own spaghetti sauce, salsa, pickles, relishes and soup stock.

Here's my wife's favorite recipe from my canning adventures last year. This fall, I waited too late to buy roma tomatoes which, with a lower liquid content, are best for making sauces. I bought regular tomatoes and cooked them longer. Make on a rainy weekend afternoon or right after work. Order in pizza for dinner, because the aroma of cooking tomatoes will make you hungry for Italian.

Mark's Porcini Pasta Sauce

Makes 17 quarts

1/2 bushel canning tomatoes (approx. 60-61), peeled and chopped - see below.
5 lg. yellow onions
2 lg. zucchini, chopped
2 eggplants, chopped
1 lb portabella mushrooms, sliced
1.4 lb button mushrooms, sliced
.37 lb dried porcini mushrooms (5 pkgs., in this case)
4 green peppers, chopped
2 yellow peppers, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
4 cans tomato paste
1 bottle Stonehaven Shiraz/Cabernet (any good red will do)
Fennel seed (2 Tbsp?)
5 bay leaves
8 bulbs roasted garlic (not cloves)
Salt, to taste
Fresh ground pepper, to taste
Sugar, to taste
Lots of dried oregano (6-8 Tbsp?)
Lots of dried basil (6-8 Tbsp?)

1. Blanche and peel tomatoes. Chop and place in large (5-gal.) pot. Boil on low-medium.
2. Soak dried porcinis in bottle of wine to rehydrate.
3. Roast 8 garlic bulbs, about 40-50 cloves. Note: my garlics were small. Use less, if yours are large. To roast, place in aluminum foil in preheated 350 degree oven for 1/2 hour or so. Cool. Squeeze roasted garlic into tomatoes, discarding skins.
4. Add rehydrated porcinis and wine to sauce, carefully excluding the last couple of tablespoons of liquid, which contain sand/debris from mushrooms.
5. While garlic is roasting, porcinis are soaking and tomatoes are boiling. In a large saute pan, saute fresh mushrooms on high heat in olive oil until browned, then add to tomato sauce.
6. Add more olive oil, if needed, and saute onions, peppers, zukes and eggplants. (May need to do in batches.) Add all to sauce.
7. Add bay leaves, salt, pepper, fennel seed, sugar, oregano and basil.
8. Boil gently until sauce thickens to desired consistency (2-6 hours, or so), stirring occasionally.
9. Ladle into hot/clean quart jars and process in pressure canner, according to canner's instructions, for 25 minutes at 15 lbs pressure.

My canner can process 7 qts at a time. I ended up with 17 qts = 3 batches. Your mileage may vary depending on how juicy your tomatoes are and how long you reduce the sauce.

Excellent on pasta with freshly-grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, or add your choice of meat: Italian sausage, chicken, ground beef or venison. Works well as a pizza sauce or on bruschetta, too. Ciao!

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