Marinara Sauce

Makes approximately 12 quarts of sauce. Took approximately 15 hours to complete.

Ingredients:

• 50 lbs (1 bushel) of Roma tomatoes ($42 in 2024)
• 2 cups EVOO
• ~14 small or 8 large yellow onions
• 14 cloves garlic
• 1 bunch celery
• ~10-14 carrots
• 1 jar dried basil
• 1 jar dried oregano
• Salt & Pepper
• Lemon Juice for canning

Instructions:

1. Prep the tomatoes
   • Wash & Core
   • Peel skins either through the blanching method or the roasting method
   • Let sit 1 hour to release water content
   • Took approximately 2 hrs
2. Making the sauce
   • Using a food processor for speed, chop onions, carrots, and celery. Keep onions separate from other veggies.
   • Heat 1 cup EVOO in large pot (used my 16 qt pressure canner pot). Saute onions and garlic until translucent (approximately 10 minutes), stirring frequently.
   • Add remaining 1 cup EVOO, carrots, celery, salt & pepper. Cook until softened (~10 minutes).
   • Add tomatoes and simmer until thickened (~1 hr).
   • Season with salt, pepper, basil, and oregano.
   • Continue to simmer until thickened to your preferred consistency.
3. Canning:
   • Prepare jars
   • Add lemon juice to bottom of jars, (2 Tbsp per Quart, 1 Tbsp per pint)
   • Process at 11 pounds of pressure for 25 minutes (quarts) or 20 minutes (pints).
   • Natural release.