Canning Tomatoes The Easy Way

One of the easiest ways to preserve tomatoes is to core them and cut them into quarters, place on a cookie sheet and put in the freezer.  When they are frozen, put them into a gallon freezer bag and you're done.  I do this from time to time when I'm too busy to can and by freezing them, it preserves them for me to cook down into sauce later. 

Every year we can tomatoes and every year I don't look forward to peeling them for the canning process. This year I heard of a different idea that seemed too simple, but I tried it anyway.  Core your tomatoes, quarter them and put into a blender, no peeling required.  I was afraid there would be too much peeling in the sauce, but the blender pureed most of it.  Before you do a whole batch for yourself, just blend a few to see how you like the end result. 

Depending on how many tomatoes you have or how big your pot is, you will need to do this in batches for the blender.  Then just pour them into your pot.  Be sure to use a non-reactive pot, I use a large stainless steel stockpot for this purpose.  Then simmer the tomato sauce for several hours to cook it down.  Cooking it down removes a lot of the liquid and makes a nice thick sauce. 

You can jar up just the basic tomatoes or you can add all of your spices to it while it is in the pot.  I can up just the tomatoes and then use it in many different ways all winter long.  It is wonderful as a base for your spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce, and for use in any recipe that takes tomato sauce or paste. 

Be sure to let me know how you like this process and have fun !!