Easy Roasted Tomato Sauce (canning recipe)

Well, just when we thought that our twenty tomato plants were going to be a disappointment due to the unusually cool spring and summer, they decided to outshine and outproduce everything else in the garden in a matter of a couple short weeks. They didn't care that we had plans for vacation. They ignored the fact that I had too many work deadlines to enjoy the fruit of their labor. They paid no attention to the calendar which stated it was autumn, not summer! Still, I was proud of those plants and couldn't let the beautiful fruit rot on the vine. Just the thought of a juicy bacon-lettuce-tomato sandwich made from a gargantuan heirloom tomato was enough to get us picking...and picking...and picking!
Soon, the counters were lined with bowls and bags of heirloom tomatoes. Half were Italian sauce tomatoes, the others were for slicing. We handed out tomatoes to whoever would take them. We have eaten tomatoes at every meal until we finally had to break out the bottle of antacid. I canned thirty quarts of roasted tomato sauce and twelve pints of salsa. Yes, roasted tomato sauce! I let the oven do a lot of the work for me. Added benefits are the delicious roasted flavor, a thicker sauce, no peeling (hallelujah!) and being able to use slicing tomatoes. Here's how I did it...

1. Clean, core and cut into chunks your best slicing and/or paste tomatoes. (I used about 1/2 of each.)

2. Place in baking pans. Roast in a 350 degree oven until desired consistency. This took about 2 1/2 hours for my pans of tomatoes. Stir about every 1/2 hour to let all tomatoes absorb liquid and roast equally.

3. Place in sterile jars with 2 tbsp. lemon juice in each quart, then process per USDA recommendations for crushed tomatoes processed in a boiling water canner. http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/publications/usda/GUIDE%203%20Home%20Can.pdf

Tips: Only use the best tomatoes; none that are over or under-ripe or blemished. I didn't add any salt, but did sprinkle some balsamic vinegar (optional) over the tomatoes before they roasted.

For the purists: You can strain the sauce before adding it to the jars. However, I felt the skins broke down enough for a rustic, slightly chunky sauce that didn't need straining.

Types of tomatoes I used: heirloom slicing tomatoes-

German stripe

Pineapple

Mortgage Lifter

Black Brandywine

Purple Cherokee

Stupice

Tennessee Britches

Black from Tula

Heirloom Italian sauce tomatoes-

San Marzano Redorta