I started to say something about this on your other post about this but didn't. The main problem is in the label you are using i smaking it difficult for you.

The label "spaghetti sauce" means different things to different people and many have their own recipes. But the one thing a spaghetti sauce recipe will always have in it is other vegetables.

From your description of what you want to make you are looking for just a seasoned tomato sauce recipe, perhaps a marinara recipe, not a spaghetti sauce recipe. You want only tomatoes and seasonings and there are lots of seasoned tomato sauce recipes available (Ball Blue has 4 or 5 that I can think of and many others have been posted here in the past). And it is also easy and safe to make up your own since it will contain ONLY tomatoes and dried seasonings and the required acidifier of either bottled lemon juice or citric acid.

So yes you can make seasoned tomato sauce containing only tomatoes plus "1/4 cup of dried oregano, 1/4 cup dried Italian seasoning mix, 1/4 cup (or a bit less) of dried basil, 1 TBSP canning salt and 2 TBSP black pepper" and you will add to that 1 T of bottled lemon juice or 1/4 tsp of citric acid per pint and process it in a BWB canner for 35 min adjusting for altitude. This is DRIED spices only, never fresh.

However, I will warn you that you probably do not want to use such large amounts of the dried herbs and spices. Both oregano and basil are already contained in Italian Seasoning and both tend to get very bitter during shelf storage if used in large amount. It may taste good going into the jar but it won't coming out of the jar. We usually suggest you cut your spices by at least 1/2 and then plant to add more if needed after opening the jar.

Hope this helps but if you want other recipes then Google 'seasoned tomato sauce', not spaghetti sauce., ok?

Dave

I agree with Dave-- those types of spices are meant to be used more at the end of cooking, not for long cooked or storage. Why not just can tomato sauce or crushed--then it's easy to add dried spices or whatever else when you open it, and you have all the versatility needed.

All those dried herbs in the sauce sound like they would be harsh. I think the idea of making a simpler sauce and adding herbs as desired when you use it might be a better approach. If you decide to go that route, this is a very flavorful sauce that I have used as is (esp over filled pastas or meats) or adding some seasoning to it. DH nd I love it.

Tomato Basil Sauce
From Southern Living

10 pounds tomatoes
1 T dried basil (or 1/4 c fresh)
6 T lemon juice, divided
3 tsp salt, divided

Wash tomatoes. Dip in boiling water for 30-60 seconds or until skins split. Plunge immediately into ice water; core, peel and quarter tomatoes. Place 4 qts of tomatoes in large stockpot. Crush tomatoes.

Quickly bring to a boil over high heat, stirring vigorously; gradually add remaining quartered tomatoes, stirring constantly. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 2 hours.

Remove from heat and stir in basil. Put 1 T lemon juice and 1/2 tsp salt in each of 6 hot pint jars. Immediately fill jars with hot tomatoes, filling to 1/2 from top. Carefully run a non-metallic spatula around inside of jars to remove air bubbles. Wipe rims and seal with metal lids and bands. Process in boiling water bath for 35 minutes.

Thank you! I thought about just adding it later but I am afraid I will fail at that... I am not really good with spices/herbs. I have tried to make spaghetti sauce from just plan tomato sauce and add the spices and it failed. bad. really bad. I would just like something like Prego - but with my veggies and tomatoes ;-)

Thank you! I thought about just adding it later but I am afraid I will fail at that... I am not really good with spices/herbs. I have tried to make spaghetti sauce from just plan tomato sauce and add the spices and it failed. bad. really bad. I would just like something like Prego - but with my veggies and tomatoes ;-)

So where did you get those quantities of spices for your made up recipe.

Basic red sauce: sauté some garlic and/or onion in a little olive oil until tender. Add mushrooms, zucchini, and other veggies--cook until tender (and excess water cooks out). At this point, I would 'deglaze' with a good splash of red wine--simply put, add a liquid and scrape the bottom of pan, then boil partially away. I get the little single serve bottles to keep on hand for cooking with. Then, add your tomato sauce and simmer. Add a little herbs, let simmer for a couple minutes, then taste. Add more as needed, and you'll get the hang of how much you prefer. Much better than Prego. If you add meat, I generally cook it first, then pull it out and cook the veggies in the grease, adding it back in with the sauce. Veggies cook better that way.

Edited: this is not meant to be a canning recipe. It's what I use to make a pasta sauce using my canned tomato sauce (plain tom sauce with no spices or veg).

This post was edited by balloonflower on Thu, Aug 28, 14 at 15:42

pixie_lou - I got them from a 1990 Ball canning book (the spices). I just did not think the recipe itself (in whole) was safe since it had both green peppers and onions in it with no lemon juice/citric acid. The amount of tomatoes and spices were the same...

So it was a pressure canning recipe?

They have this one which they say is safe for BWB, it does have lemon juice.

Fresh tomatoes you can yourself will taste more "tomatoey" than Prego.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ball Italian Style Tomato Sauce

Yeah I'm afraid that in trying to help we have only made the issue more confused.

First, any recipe found in a Ball book on canning is a safe and tested recipe. I can't find the one you are referring to in my 1990 copy of the book or any other edition. None of them call for more than spoonfulls of spices, not cups as you listed.

But the recipe as it was written in the Ball book would have been for pressure canning and would be safe to make even if it had peppers and onions in it. So I'm not sure why you would think it wasn't safe.

If I understand correctly and what you want is:

Now this is what I would like to do....

REMOVE the oil, onion and 1/4 cup of fresh basil.
ADD 1/4 cup of dried oregano, 1/4 cup dried Italian seasoning mix, 1/4 cup (or a bit less) of dried basil, 1 TBSP canning salt and 2 TBSP black pepper.

then as I said above you can do that but not with all those spices. You are WAY too heavy on the spices. Dried spices are basically 4x more intense than fresh so are normally used at 1/4 the amount when using dried.

Instead take the Ball Fresh Preserving recipe:

20 lb tomatoes (about 60 medium)
1 cup chopped onion (about 1 large)
8 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup finely minced, fresh basil
ü tsp Ballî Citric Acid or 1 Tbsp bottled lemon juice per hot jar
7 (16 oz) pint glass preserving jars with lids and bands

Leave out the oil, onion, and garlic if you wish and instead of the 1/4 cup fresh basil use 2 tablespoons of Italian Seasoning (already contains your basil and oregano). Use 1/2 tablespoon salt and 1/2 tablespoon pepper. Cook it for 10 min. and then taste it. Add gradual small amounts of more salt and pepper and Italian Seasonings if needed 1 tsp at a time.

Keep in mind the seasonings will get stronger in the jars on the shelf and that you can always add more of them when cooking your vegetables and browning your meat so go lightly on the seasonings.

Hope this helps.

Dave

No, it was not a pressure canning recipe.

digdirt - Your 1990 Ball Blue Book of Canning, copyright 1990 does not have a Italian Tomato Sauce recipe in it?
Below is the recipe I was told was from the book - though when I posted this I multiplied everything by 4 since making four pints at a time is silly - we need more then that!

1 cup finely chopped onion (about 1 med.)
2 cloves garlic minced
2 TBLSP olive oil
5 lbs. tomatoes, peeled and cored
1 cup finely chopped green pepper (about 1 med.)
1 TBLSP each basil, oregano, and italian seasonings
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

Cook chopped onions and garlic in oil in a large suace pot until tender. Add remining ingredients and simmer about 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Press mixture through a food mill; discard seeds. Cook mixture over med. high heat until thickened, about 1 hour. Stir frequently to prevent sticking. Pour into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch head space. Adjust caps. Process 35 minutes in boiling water bath. Yield about 4 half pints.

On a side note - I have checked out a few more canning books and found some that I will be trying. If you have a local library, please check out some old canning books - their regulations are not the same as now. Ball is much more strict on making sure the recipe is acidic enough.

Yes the Italian Tomato Sauce recipe is in the back of the book under the "Canning for a Few" section. It was your posted measurements that threw me as nothing called for that much spices.

That recipe was dropped in all the subsequent editions as unsafe as pressure canning should have been required. The subsequent editions of the BBB have the Italian Tomato Sauce recipe in them but pressure canning it is required and they reduced the seasonings by at least half.

Those of us here usually recommend against using the old canning books just for the reasons you mentioned - they are no longer in line with the current research and guidelines. The safety guidelines have been updated at least 4 times that I know of since 1990. Ball adheres to those USDA guidelines.

Of course you always of the option of ignoring the current recommended guidelines and using the old recipes if the risk is acceptable to you.

Dave

I havr found older (or newer but not safe) canning books in our library and have mentioned to the librarian that they should be pulled but they haven't been. It is definitely "caveat emptor" (what's Latin for borrower?) when getting books from a library, friend, or even some of the new books (W-S canning book has been mentioned here as having questionable recipes).

I'm glad you posted the recipe and had it checked out, your instincts were good. I hope you found a recipe you can use, either modifying that one or one of the other ones posted.