Yesterday, Easter Sunday, two of our kids and their mates decided on the spur of the moment to come for the day and instead of a big holiday meal...we did a Sicilian Easter Dinner. I made my canner full of red sauce (Sunday Gravy as the old timers call it) and cooked meatballs, sausage, eggs, potato's, and 6 little thin sliced steaks in the sauce. Now obviously I knew 6 of us were not going to eat that much...but I was making extra for the freezer. I have lots and lots of tomatoes planted this year and I'm hoping for a bumper crop so I can can some too.

harriet, welcome! congratulations on your tomato bonanza. No, you don't have to "pressure cook" the tomato sauce if you're going to freeze it. You can just make it --- any recipe you want, including meat, veggies, whatever, if it's to be frozen --- cook it as much as you like till it's how you want it, then put it into containers and freeze it. ("Pressure canning" and "Water bath canning" are for if you want to store the sauce in jars that do NOT go in the freezer --- just stay on the shelf, like jars from the store. If you want to try that, then you need to follow a tested recipe to be sure that it's safe for home caninng. Get the Ball Blue Book for a start! But if you are going to freeze it, you can make any recipe you want.) Yes, the containers can be regular canning jars. But they don't have to be jars at all --- they can be almost anything, in fact: little plastic tubs with snap-on lids, or even freezer bags wit the tops close tightly. BUT whatever you use, be sure to leave a little extra space at the top (like a half inch) because the sauce will expand a bit when it freezes and you don't want to pop the top off! You should let the sauce cool to almost room temperature before freezing it just so it doesn't warm up your freezer too much. You can let it cool first, then put it in the containers --- I find this easier than pouring in hot sauce. Your steps are fine. You probably want to cut out the tough "core" in the top centre of each tomato when you chop it. If you don't like the seeds you can take those out too at that time, but some people don't care (I leave 'em in). Hope this helps. Welcome to the forum. Good luck with yoru tomato sauce project! Zabby

ci_lantro, you are my freezing clone! Have been freezing in paper milk cartons for years as well. When I make similar pasta meals/soups, etc, I line the boxes with a non-zip plastic food storage bag, de-air and use a twistie. I have never had freezer burn and am still enjoying home grown frozen apricots halves from 2005. A plain freezer zip lock is not as trustworthy IMO. When packaging a pasta dish or soup for two, I simply shorten the half gallon milk cartons-since those are the main sizes I have. Keep enough ht to fold sides and front in, fold over back side and then use a strong 1/8th inch rubberband to secure. Label and stack those "bricks." When I package our home grown chickens, one cut up chicken minus back fills one carton. Cut down cartons can hold lesser amounts. Like you, storage is in the lower level between floor joists on shelves above the freezers. Half gal-flat bottomed-Breyers icecream cartons are the other favorite storage worker. They hold zip lock (snack or sandwich) portions of berries/fruits, chutneys, asparagus, chicken livers, sauces, and eggs. Before capping, a piece of closed cell foam or bubble wrap covers all. Rubberband as well. Should admit current icecream cartons are only 1.5 qts but my vintage ones are 1/2 gal. My children and grands love to comment on previous labels on their BB10 (aka blueberries 2010 crop) gifts...and the cartons are returned as they know recycling is my mantra. Try this Juliet, and let us know if it works for you.

SPAGHETTI PIE (serves 6) 16 oz spaghetti 2 TBL butter 1/3 cup grated Parmesan 2 eggs, well beaten 1 lb ground beef or ground pork sausage (I use beef) 1/2 cup onion, chopped 1/4 cup green pepper, chopped 14 oz can tomatoes, diced 6 oz can tomato paste 1 tsp sugar 1 tsp dried oregano, crushed (I use more) 1/2 tsp garlic salt 8 oz container cottage cheese, (small curd) 1/2 cup Mozzarella, shredded Cook the spaghetti per pkg directions; drain. You should have about 3 1/4 cup pasta. Stir butter into hot spaghetti. Stir in Parmesan & eggs. Form spaghetti mixture into a "crust" in a 10" buttered pie plate. In skillet, cook ground beef, onion & green pepper until vegetables are tender & meat is browned. Drain off excess fat. Stir in undrained tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar, oregano & garlic salt. (You can also substitute garlic powder w/minced garlic but add it when cooking the meat.) Heat through. Spread cottage cheese over bottom of spaghetti crust. Top w/tomato mixture. Bake, uncovered in a preheated 350° oven for 20 minutes. sprinkle the Mozzarella on top. Bake 5 minutes longer or until cheese melts.~~Kitchen Miracles