I discovered this lovely pizza sauce recipe when I was trying to perfect my homemade pizzas. All of the sauces I had tried had just fallen short of what I wanted. Once I found this basic recipe, and of course made a few adjustments, I knew it was a keeper. After taste testing it, my husband and I agreed not only was it the perfect pizza sauce but it made an awesome spaghetti sauce. When I make it I usually make extras and can them so that I continuously have it on hand for those days when I need a meal in a hurry. I can them in different size jars, with larger jars for spaghetti sauce and smaller jelly size jars for pizza sauce.
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 (8 Ounce) Cans Tomato Sauce
2 (6 Ounce) Cans Tomato Paste
4 tablespoons grated Parmesan Cheese
2 teaspoons dried basil
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 bay leaf
2 teaspoons fennel seed
Step One
In a large pan add the butter and olive oil. When the butter has melted and the oil is warm, add in the onion and garlic, sautéing until they are soft.
Step Two
Add in tomato sauce and tomato paste, stirring until smooth.
Step Three
Add remaining ingredients and bring to a slow simmer. Continue to simmer for forty-five minutes.
Step Four
Remove the bay leaf and you are ready to serve.
Canning Instructions
You can add meat to the spaghetti sauce before canning it if you wish, if you do be sure to drain all fat from the hamburger before mixing it into the sauce. Since you are putting hot sauce into the canning jars, you will want to heat the jars. You can do this in one of two ways, by warming the jars in a water bath canner, or you can heat them in my dishwasher on the sanitize cycle. I prefer to heat them in my dishwasher.
When your jars are hot you can use your wide mouth funnel to help put the sauce into the jars. Be sure to leave about an inch and a half of headspace in each jar.
Now it is time to put your lids on your jars. You will want to wipe down the outside rims of the jar, and place a clean lid on each jar, using the ring to secure it.
After the lids are on the jars you are ready to put the sauce into the pressure cooker. You will want to add about two to three inches of water to the bottom of your pressure cooker before putting your jars in. After you have the water in your pressure cooker it is time to add the jars. Once you have added the jars, tighten the lid on your pressure cooker and you are ready to go.
To process the jars you will want to eleven pounds of pressure in the pressure cooker. Once you have reached this point, you will want to continue to process the jars for an additional fifteen minutes.
Once the jars have been processed in the pressure cooker, it is time to carefully remove them to the counter to cool. I do this by using a jar lift, and placing them on a heavy towel so that they do not damage my cabinet. Once the jars have cooled you will want to check to make sure that all of the lids sealed tightly, if any jars did not seal either use immediately or reprocess.
