A while back I stumbled upon an article about Giada De Laurentiis being the “Sauce Boss” of the food network. I watched her sauce being made and instantly wanted some. I’ve always loved canning my own stuff…knowing exactly whats in the food I’m giving my kids is exciting. What’s even more exciting is the feeling of accomplishment when I pull it out of the pantry. I decided to give this spaghetti sauce a try a couple years back. I recently found it on our old blog and decided it needed a home on The Ball Camp. We’ve definitely taken this camping with us before, pre-mixed with noodles and stowed in ball jars for warming up on the camp stove. I changed the food network recipe up a bit, and made it my own. This will make 4 perfectly filled to the rim Ball Jars of sauce.

sauce copy
Recipe:

1cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 large red onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/2 green pepper, finely chopped (you can do a whole green pepper if you like peppers!)
1 carrot, peeled and finely chopped
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 (32-ounce) cans crushed tomatoes (I used Meijer Naturals)
3 dried bay leaves

In a large casserole pot, heat the oil over a medium-high flame. Add the onions and garlic and saute’ until the onions are translucent, about 10 minutes. (At this point your eyes will really be watering and your whole house will smell of onion and garlic!)
Add the green pepper, carrots, and salt and pepper. Saute’ until all the vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes.
Add the tomatoes and bay leaves, and simmer uncovered over low heat until the sauce thickens, about 1 hour. Stir occasionally.
Remove and discard the bay leaves. Season the sauce with more salt and pepper, to taste if needed…I didn’t find it needed. Can sauce and you are done!

The rest of these instructions are for those that are new to canning…if you know how to can, then you can skip this!

Pour sauce into Ball Jars. The easiest way to do this is to buy a cheap 60 cent funnel. It makes it way less messy! If you don’t have a super tall pot, tighten jar lids as tight as possible. Lay jars on their side in the casserole pot for 5 minutes each in boiling water. Take out of water using canning tongs or some other method…don’t attempt with your bare hands…they will be HOT! The lids should not pop up and down. If they don’t, success! You’ve canned your sauce.