Spaghetti sauce

Using my 60+ pounds of tomatoes, I made some spaghetti sauce and bottled it. I did the meatless variety, figuring that I might want to add chicken or sausage or something other than ground beef to the sauce later.

I followed these instructions almost exactly - except I added herbs and seasonings to suit my taste. Go easy on your seasonings since they might get bitter over time if you add too much.

Things that are high-acidity (like the pepper jelly) are safe to can in a water bath but things that are low-acidity (like green beans) are not and either require extra acid or the use of a pressure canner. Tomatoes are right on the fence of high/low-acidity and so most recipes will suggest adding vinegar to make the sauce more acidic...yuck. If you're going to bottle your own spaghetti sauce, maybe buy or borrow a pressure canner just for the sake of good-tasting sauce.

The other thing I noticed is that the amount of head space (air between the sauce and the lid) increased a lot after bottling. I think the tomatoes or peppers cook down and leave more air at the top, since I filled the jars almost to the top before sealing them.

I had one jar that I left open so we could eat it and it has been delicious. I'm looking forward to yummy, garden-fresh spaghetti sauce all winter!