Canning Tomatoes - Zucchini Pasta Sauce

Cearle and Me! (circa early 1990s)

This is "Tomato" season carried on into canning 101 - Cearle and Ellen style!                            

When I first started out, I helped my Mom out in the kitchen, but when we got out on our own, my sister Cearle and I embarked on the adventures of learning to can.  If you can can with your Mom, a friend or a sister, count yourself as very fortunate! It is way more fun and a lot less work.  And, it is scientifically proven women who share life with friends are healthier and live longer!  I will always treasure those days spent in the kitchen with my Mom and my baby sister learning how to can together. 

Over the years, we tried everything and had tomatoes everywhere!  In our humble opinion, from a few very messy experiences and the amount of work that goes into it, don't try making tomato juice.  It is simply not worth it.  But canning whole tomatoes, salsa, and sauces is well worth the effort.  It is cheaper than store bought, the flavor is better, and you get to control what goes in the jar!  It is never too late to start; here is some advice to get you going.

In years past, we waited until just past peak to pick tomatoes from the Twiehoff Gardens and Nursery because money was short and we did not have enough yard space for that size of a garden.  

Generally in Minnesota, you should be able to buy a 1/2 bushel of tomatoes for around $35, but at Twiehoffs, if you pick them yourself after peak season, you can get them for much cheaper, at least back then you could.  

If you live in the Faribault, MN area, you should really check them out for their fruit and vegetables, you will not be disappointed.  The owners are the most down to earth honest people you will ever meet and their gardening practices are bar none. You will feel like you have just went down home country at Twiehoff's.  Home Sweet Home in the Garden!

I always wash my jars in a dishwasher when I get them new from the store or if I just used up a jar of tomatoes during the winter.  I store the jars rim side down in the cabinet so the quart jars are ready to put in a clean dishwasher on the steam mode wash cycle (very hot water and hot heat dry) to sterilize them.  When the cycle is finished, I leave them in the dishwasher to keep them real hot until ready to use.  If you don't have a dishwasher with high heat, wash them thoroughly and put them in a pot with some boiling water.  Make sure they are spotlessly sterile and hot when you use them! 

After setting my jars in the dishwasher, whether you pick your own or purchase some, you will want to wash the tomatoes before putting them in a pot of boiling water. 

It takes about a minute for the skins to crack, so while your water is setting to boiling, make sure you already have the ice water set up.  I use a slotted spoon and have an extra bowl to carry the hot tomatoes into the ice water.

Use a paring knife to peel the skins off and to cut the top green cores off the tomatoes.  This is very important: put your skins and tops in a disposable plastic bag.  I use the few plastic shopping bags I get when shopping.  When I was younger, I thought it would be easy to run them through the garbage disposal, well DO NOT do that unless you want to drag your husband into the kitchen to fix the garbage disposal.  I use a plastic bag, so I can pop some holes in the bottom of the bag to make it easy to drain the excess liquid before tossing in the garbage.  

If you have a compost pile or drum, you are fortunate and you know what to do with those scraps!

So, this year I had tomatoes, basil, and zucchini to put up and figured I'd alter a canning recipe to put them in a pot together.  The following is the recipe for my Zucchini Pasta Sauce. If you just want to can up the tomatoes, skip down to the part about canning crushed/whole tomatoes down below:

 

• I finely chopped up 1/4 cup basil leaves.  Note, make sure they are blemish free!
• I peeled and diced up 2 medium zucchinis into bite size pieces
• and added them to 12 medium to large (not huge) blanched and peeled tomatoes. (Some people like to crush the tomatoes with their hands, but I prefer to use a potato masher or you could use a fork.) 
• To this pot, I also added 4 cloves pressed garlic, pressed through a garlic press (my favorite is Pampered Chef's)
• and 1/2 medium onion chopped finely.

I brought this pot to a boil and boiled the zucchini pasta sauce for 15 minutes or until reduced by about an inch from the top of the soup pan. My mother taught me to remove the cloudy film that formed at the top of the pot, so I take a spoon and skim off the cloudy film/foam off the top and toss that away.

If you are canning crushed/whole tomatoes, I boil mine for five minutes before putting in the clean jars, but you can cold pack them too, just make sure they are filled within 1/2 inch of the top of the quart jar.  

If you are canning the Zucchini Pasta Sauce, fill the quart jar within 1/2 of the top of the jar. 

For either crushed/whole tomatoes or Zucchini Pasta Sauce:

• Add 1 teaspoon canning salt (Yes there is a difference - look in the canning isle at the market!)
• Add 2 Tablespoons bottled/NOT fresh lemon juice or 1/2 teaspoon citric acid (You can find citric acid in the canning isle too.)

Make sure you exactly follow your manufacturer's instructions for preparing and processing the pressure canner.  This is NOT something to mess with at all!  

Heat your lids in a small saucepan of boiling water.  It should only take about a minute; don't over boil your lids!  After wiping the rim of the jars to wash off any trace of food particles (I use a clean slightly damp flour cloth towel wrapped on my pointer finger tip), put on your lids and screw the ring over-top.  Only hand squeeze the ring; there is no need to squeeze it over tight.  

Place your jars in the pressure canner at 10 lbs pressure and process as follows:

• 25 minutes for crushed/whole tomoatoes
• 35 minutes for Zucchini Pasta Sauce.  

As you can see from the photos, I got 3 and 1/2 quarts of Zucchini Pasta Sauce.  You will either need to freeze or use the left over 1/2 quart.  This is what I did with mine to make two good sized servings of pasta, as the main course.

 

I always make my own chicken broth, if you don't you can purchase your favorite brand to make up about 1 and 1/2 cups of chicken broth.  (If you want to know how to make your own chicken broth, send me a comment and I will share.)  

• Add the 1 and 1/2 cups of  broth to the Zuchinni Pasta Sauce pan (mine is from the canning). 
• Add 1 Tablespoon lemon juice (if you use your canned sauce, don't add more lemon juice)
• Bring it to a boil, then add 1 cup dry mostaccioli (or your favorite pasta)
• Turn down to medium low and cover
• Stir often until pasta is tender.
• I added 1/2 lb browned ground lamb (this is totally optional - bet it would also be great with grilled chicken!)
• I added 1/2 Tablespoon red pepper flakes because my husband likes it spicy (this is also optional)
• Season to taste with salt and pepper 

I added some shredded Parmesan cheese to mine and served with grilled baby broccoli and garlic toast.  My husband explained; "It is so creamy".  "I love it".  This is good because we have at least three quarts to eat up this winter!