In the Kitchen: Chunky Basil Pasta Sauce

Want to know how to turn these into this?

That's what I did today.  I spent most of the day at it although, happily, it doesn't need a lot of babysitting.

Here's how the tomatoes looked after I had my psycho shower scene way with them.

Then I added the rest of the ingredients

and let the mixture simmer on the stove top for 2 hours and 20 minutes.  Yes, a long time.  (Your patience will be rewarded, Grasshopper.)  By that time, it looked like this.

You can see that it cooked down by about two inches.  I'm a little disappointed that after all that time and effort, I only got just under 3 quarts.  I was hoping for 4 quarts.  I even doubled the recipe.   I've only used 1/3 of my tomatoes, however, so I should end up with 7-8 quarts total . . . that will give me enough to share with Erik and Mae, and I know they will enjoy it.  I'll be working on this all weekend.

Here's the recipe I used, which came from this book:

                     
Chunky Basil Pasta Sauce

8 cups  coarsely chopped peeled tomatoes (about 9-12 tomatoes or 4 lbs.)
1 cup  chopped onion
3 cloves  garlic -- minced
2/3 cup  red wine
1/3 cup  red wine vinegar
1/2 cup  chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon  chopped fresh parsley (may substitute 1/2 tablespoon dried)
1 teaspoon  pickling salt
1/2 teaspoon  granulated sugar
1 can  tomato paste (6 oz.)

Combine all ingredients in a very large stainless steel or enamel saucepan.  Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for about one hour or until mixture reaches desired consistency, stirring frequently.

Remove hot jars from canner and ladle sauce into jars to within 1/2 inch of rim (head space).  Process 35 minutes for pint jars and 40 minutes for quart jars.

My notes about the recipe:  You need to know that I doubled this recipe.  If you are making a single recipe, the yield is hardly worth bothering to process.  You can freeze it or refrigerate it, depending on how soon you plan to use it.  Also, if you do not want to add wine, it would be fine to substitute tomato juice or vegetable broth.  If you use tomato juice, you might want to dilute it slightly.  I haven't actually tried this.  You would need to experiment to see what you think.

And so what did I do while the sauce was cooking down?  I made the top for my October doll quilt swap.  My partner this month is in Alaska, and she asked for something cat related.  (I can handle that!)

How's your Saturday going?