When Life Gives You Tomatoes

This time of year, our garden is overflowing with cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, and even watermelons. Homemade pickles are an easy outlet for our overabundance of cucumbers, but the tomatoes and peppers called for something else. Homemade spaghetti sauce—what else? Oh, and there are a few batches of salsa in there, too.

Here’s a pretty close recipe of what I did. I ended up filling (4) 32-ounce mason jars. And, yes, I freeze almost everything in glass jars. Just try it, you might surprise yourself.

RECIPE

10 cups diced tomatoes (we didn’t have quite enough, so we added in canned diced tomatoes. If you don’t have fresh tomatoes, use (3) 28-ounce cans of diced tomatoes)
1 extra large onion, diced
7 tsp. garlic (or 7 cloves if you’re fancy)
(2) 6-ounce cans tomato paste
(4) 8-ounce cans tomato sauce
3 tbs. white sugar (we used a bit more, because our peppers added a lot of heat)
1-1/2 tsp. salt
1-1/2 tsp. pepper
3 tbs. tarragon
3 tbs. basil
3 tbs. oregano
3 bay leaves (optional)
3 tbs. lemon juice (or to taste)
bell peppers (optional)

I did this all in my crockpot. I started in the sauté/brown mode. I added a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, onion, bell pepper, and garlic. Let this cook until soft. I switched the crockpot to “Slow cook” and “low,” setting the timer for 8 hours. I added the rest of the ingredients. I gave it a good stir and tucked it in for the night.

The next morning, we did a taste test, topped it off with a touch more sugar, and ladled it into mason jars. I let them cool before freezing.

When you’re ready to use it, just pull a jar out and place it in the refrigerator the day before you’ll use it. Add a pound of ground beef (or not) and enjoy.