Canning Roasted Garlic Pasta Sauce

When I was in pickle-making mode I bought a lot of garlic–more than I needed. I was thinking about what to do with it all when I came across a recipe for Roasted Garlic Pasta Sauce on the SB Canning site. It sounded great, I had a bounty of fresh tomatoes, peppers, and herbs that needed to be tended to so I gave it a go.

Yield: I increased the recipe (the measurements I used are in this post) and ended up with ten pints.

Ingredients

• 9 bulbs of garlic
• 4 Tbsp. olive oil
• 6 green peppers, halved and seeded.
• 18 pounds of tomatoes, peeled and chopped
• 4 1/2 Tbsp. packed brown sugar
• 3 Tbsp. kosher salt
• 1 1/2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 1/2 tsp. ground pepper
• 3 cups chopped basil
• 1 1/2 cup assorted chopped fresh herbs (I used a combination of parsley, oregano, and thyme.)
• Bottled lemon juice–1 Tbsp. for each pint jar

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Peel away dry outer layer of garlic bulbs. Cut top off, leaving bulbs intact.

Place cut side up on casserole dish and drizzle with 1 Tbsp. olive oil. Cover dish.

Arrange peppers cut side down on foil-lined baking sheet. Brush with remaining 2 Tbsp. olive oil.

Roast garlic and peppers for 40-50 minutes.

Remove from oven. Cool garlic until cool enough to handle.

Pull foil up to enclose peppers and leave for about 20 minutes. Peel skin off of peppers.

When the garlic is cool enough to handle, gently squeeze the bottom of the bulbs to remove the garlic. Put the garlic into food processer and add a few of the chopped tomatoes. Process until chopped and pour the tomato/garlic mixture into a large pot.

Continue chopping the remaining tomatoes and adding them to the pot.

Add brown sugar, salt, vinegar, and black pepper to the tomato/garlic mixture in the pot.

Bring to a slow boil and boil steadily for about 50 minutes, stirring often.

Add the chopped roasted peppers and continue boiling for about 20 minutes, stirring often, or until sauce is desired constancy.

Remove from heat and mix in basil and herbs.

Put 1 Tbsp. lemon juice in each heated pint jar and fill with sauce leaving 1/2 inch headspace. (Use 2 Tbsp. if using quart jars.)

Wipe rims to ensure they are clean and apply lids and rings. Process in water bath canner for 35 minutes for pints and 40 minutes for quarts.

For my altitude here in Kamloops I need to increase the processing time by 5 minutes. You need to check the altitude for your location and adjust accordingly.