Making Jars of Sauce - What it really means to an Italian American..

OK, so now you're saying.. what is she talking about? Now there's a meaning to a jar of sauce? Well, actually yes-- there is. This weekend, I ended up picking tomatoes from my father's garden and making jars of sauce. He's in Italy right now, so in order for the tomatoes not to go to waste, my brother and I teamed up for a little quality sauce time.

One of my fans on the Italian American Girl Facebook fan site, said, "You really keep with traditions." It got me thinking, I do what I have to do because its second nature to me to just see that the tomatoes are grown and the logical thing to do is make jars of sauce. But, this is because its part of my family tradition, our family tradition. Really, I posted the picture of the jars on my Facebook page and all of my friends were saying, "who the hell even does that anymore?" Its a lost tradition for many Italian Americans to make sauce or wine, but one thing remains constant in my family, we keep up the traditions.

That jar of sauce means more than a good sauce for a great meal sometime in the future, but instead it means I cultivated and preserved one more element of my Italian upbringing. Its true even if you go to Italy you don't find many younger generations partaking in this type of tradition unless you go Rome and South. So, it is rare but a gem. That sauce is my love, my family, my identity and my culture.

I posted last year about making the sauce, and it almost seems the meaning with each year gets deeper and deeper. It might be sauce or gravy to you, but in the end its the valuable meaning that becomes common.

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An Italian Snack..Biscotti Con Pomodoro

Ok, how lucky am I that my mother made biscotto with pomodoro, peppers and basil..topped with oregano and olive oil from Italy. If you've never had this before basically its "Biscotto di Grano," which is hardened bread usually of a wheat/grain consistency. The bread is used in all types of salads, breadcrumbs and even dunked in morning latte. (which my father does) The bread is hardened but in this case to add into a pomodoro insalata we usually wet the bread with water so it absorbs the oil and seasonings and then gets soft enough with enough crunch to dip into the salad. Honestly, if you've never had this ..its a must. For me, I've grown up eating it a lot..and now that its almost the end of October my father had a few remaining tomatoes left from his garden. ( oh yes...the man is a genius) and my mother added peppers that were the last to grow from the garden as well into the salad. I don't know why this particular biscotto con pomodoro was especially good tonight, maybe because it was made with the last of the vegetables. By the way, the bread my mother brought back from Italy recently..so we had all of our ingredients ready to roll. Thanks Ma for making it! Tweet

Italian Americans Get Ready..Its That Time of Year Again..Time to Make Jars of Sauce...

Well, here we are again, tomato season is in full swing. This year I've heard many people talk about bad luck with their tomato crops due to a statewide (New Jersey) tomato blight. I am happy to report my father's garden escaped this problem and is now producing tons of tomatoes. With every year we grow tomatoes, we jar our tomatoes and make sauce for the upcoming winter months. This is a very old tradition but this is actually a trendy and an economic thing to do. It could save you money on sauce during the year and really you know where your sauce is coming from, an organic trend.

In making the jars of sauce, every Italian has their own method. So, for me to sit here and tell you the way we do it is the way to do it would be incorrect. I'm going to share our way anyway. Our method of making the jars starts with planning. Look, I have to be honest with you, many people go out and buy the works to make the jars of sauce, but in my family we truly are old school with the processes. My parents collect their jars throughout the year, so we don't do the typical mason jars, like many people usually do. Those bottles then get super sanitized before we even begin. This is key.

-We collect the tomatoes and select the best/ripest ones.
-We cut stems, weird skin, or dark areas out.
-We leave seeds and sometimes not (depends on whose in charge in that day and their preference, seriously--some think seeds make the sauce bitter..but honestly I never noticed the difference. You have to know how to make the sauce regardless for it taste good.)
-Then we actually pack the jars with the tomatoes raw cut into pieces with basil leaves on the bottom and top.
-Be sure to release all air bubbles along the sides of the jar. Use a knife to poke down and even out on the bottom.
-Then we place the lids on the jars just making sure there is enough grip not tight, because you want the air to be released as you start to boil.
-The jars are then placed in a massive pot with the water level at the necks of the bottle.
-Be sure to also put for example a dish towel in between the bottles, so they don't touch. If they touch, sometimes the heat and pressure causes cracking. (Again, this is our method, you might think its crazy or not the norm..but this is how it goes down at my house.)
-The jars are then left to boil for about 25/30 minutes, you should have a boil going.
-After your boil you should then shut off the stove and leave the jars in the pot to slowly cool. As they cool you will hear the air releasing the jars.
-As the jars are correctly cooling you will begin to hear the jar tops popping, which means the air is released and suctioned properly back in leaving no room for air.
-After the cool down and popping has come to a head, you can then take the jars out of the cool water and leave on the counter to settle. We usually leave them out for a few days.

So there it is folks, making jars of sauce from your garden tomatoes. I hope this gives you a better idea on the process. Every family has their own way, some better than others and more elaborate. But again, I will reiterate, this is our method and I invited you to share yours.

If you want other sources on making sauce for jars, here are a few:

http://kalynskitchen.blogspot.com/2006/09/how-to-make-and-freeze-tomato-sauce.html

http://italiancook.ca/italian-preserves.htm Tweet