Holy Cow! What am I going to do with all these?!
My amazing hubby thought... "Why not make spaghetti sauce?" (You should know, our monkeys LOVE spaghetti - they'd eat it for every meal every day...IF I made it!)
So - we looked around online for a good recipe to try and found something AMAZING! Did you know you can make spaghetti sauce in the crock-pot?!?!
Here is what we did... Not so much as rules, but guidelines (name that movie!)
Ripe tomatoes
Onions
Any other veggies you want (optional)
Garlic
Italian seasoning
Salt
Pepper
Chunk up your tomatoes. Chunk up your onion. I have a standard 4-qt crock pot and I filled it to the top. (I know it's hard not to have exact measurements, just go with it!). Just eyeball it and use about 3 times as many tomatoes as other veggies. I also used 4-5 cloves of garlic... Just depends on how many vampires you want to ward off! ;-)
Now, add your salt, pepper and Italian seasoning. You will have an opportunity to add more later so don't overkill it now.
Cook on low for 3 hours.
Your tomatoes are cooked down, so now is the time to blend it together. Transfer it to your food processor and pulse it until it's as smooth or chunky as you like it.
Then return it to your crock-pot and cook for another 3-5 hours. This is when you can taste it and add more seasoning if you want. Also, this is when you can add meat, if you like meat sauce. (If you are making this to freeze or can, DON'T add your meat to the sauce until you are ready to use it!) You can also add a small can of tomato paste if you like thick sauce - again, wait until you are ready to use it to do this.
And... we're done! Each batch makes about 2 quarts of sauce.
Now... Above I mentioned optional veggies. These could be anything from celery to zucchini. Spaghetti sauce is an excellent way for your family to eat their veggies and not even know it! ;-)
(And the movie was Pirates of the Caribbean...The Pirate Code- not so much rules as guidelines.)
Happy slow cooking- love you all!
Rulissa
Here's my recipe...
ReplyDeleteMarinara
½ c. Olive oil
8 tomatoes
1 onion
2 garlic cloves
1 stalk celery
1 carrot
Salt and pepper to taste
2 Tbs basil
2 Tbs oregano
1Tbs thyme
2 dried bay leaves
4 Tbs butter
Place all vegetables into a food processor (minus the tomatoes) and chop then drain. Put olive oil in a Dutch oven and heat on medium to high heat. Add processed vegetables and spices. Simmer for 10 minutes
Meanwhile, place tomatoes in a pot of boiling water. Boil until skin cracks then put in a sink full of ice water. Remove the skins and stems. Place in a food processor and puree them. Add puree to simmering veggies, add the butter, and simmer for another 3 to 5 minutes. Remove the bay leaves. Ready to eat or to can.
yummy!
DeleteWhen do you add the Butter?
DeleteHow do you get Red tomatoes?? Ours are STILL green!:-)
ReplyDeleteHI! Do you need to peel the tomatoes or just cut them into chunks? Thanks!!
ReplyDeleteYou can do whichever you prefer. I just chunk them up because after they are cooked and blended, they basically disappear! Good luck and thanks for stopping by!
ReplyDeleteJust saw your recipe from pinterest. Wondering if you froze your sauce or sealed it in a water bath or pressure cooker. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI put mine in a pressure cooker, but you can freeze also. Thanks for following the link over!
DeleteI throw mine in the food processor then, I don't need to worry about peeling or seeding.
ReplyDeleteI don't peel or seed either! And since I got my immersion blender it is even easier!!
DeleteSo is peeling them optional or will it now come out correct if not peeled. I have a ninja food processer
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DeleteI don’t peel them, but if you want to spend the time, you can!
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ReplyDeleteIf we aren't using Roma tomatoes, what weight should we strive for?
ReplyDeleteHi Dawn! I use all sorts of tomatoes- whatever is ripe. It’s probably 3-4 pounds, but I never weigh it. You just need about 3x more tomatoes than anything else. Good luck!
DeleteWhen you can do you add salt first??
ReplyDeleteSo after cooking I can water bath can them?
ReplyDeleteSo after cooking I can water bath can them?
ReplyDeleteSo after cooking I can water bath can them?
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