Tomato sauce

 SPEEDING UP TOMATO SAUCE

 

WHEN I make sauce, I no longer waste time peeling and cooking and stirring for hours to get a thick sauce. Instead, I use a pressure canner. The liquid separates from the flesh, I can just pour it off. In less than two hours, I can turn a mountain of whole tomatoes into thick sauce.

 

You'll need a large stainless steel pressure canner and a food mill, plus a colander, a knife and lots of tomatoes. Halve the tomatoes and toss them into the canner until it's half to two-thirds full - an overload of tomatoes can clog the air vent. Process the tomatoes at 15 pounds of pressure for 10 minutes. Allow the canner to cool by itself or dip it in cool water. When the pressure has dropped, open the canner, and pour the tomatoes into a large colander in the sink. Reserve some of the liquid to thin the sauce, as it will be quite thick. While the tomatoes are draining, wash and rinse the canner. It is much easier to clean now than later.

 

Now take the tomatoes and run them through your food mill to remove the skins and puree the meat. Presto! You have thick, rich sauce that is ready to can, freeze, or make into spaghetti sauce. One filling of the canner makes only 4 to 5 pints of thick sauce, but it is so quick that you can do several batches in an hour.