Crushed Tomatoes

steps

Note: Substitute one quart of home-canned tomatoes for a big can of grocery store tomatoes in any recipe. 

1. Blanch, core, and peel tomatoes using the same technique used to peel peaches on page 79. Halve them, scoop out seeds and gel with your fingers, and dispose. Then crush and tear tomatoes using your hands, letting crushed fruit fall into a medium mixing bowl. When you have 2 cups of crushed tomatoes, add them to a 5-quart or larger heavy, nonreactive pot, bring to a boil, and crush with a potato masher to generate some juices. Continue to add crushed tomatoes 2 cups at a time, mashing and heating until the tomatoes start to boil. When they have all been added, bring batch to a brisk boil for 5 minutes.
2. Ladle hot tomatoes into the warm, prepared jars, leaving 1 inch of headspace. Add ¼ teaspoon citric acid (or 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice) to each pint jar. If using salt, add it now: ½ teaspoon per pint jar. Check headspace. You want ½ inch, so add more tomatoes if necessary. Process in a boiling water bath for 35 minutes. Let jars rest in canning kettle for 10 minutes after processing to prevent siphoning.