Marinara Sauce with Oven Roasted Tomatoes for Canning!

I admit it, I am a lazy canner.  I don't want to spend all day babysitting and stirring a sauce.  I don't even mind tomato seeds or skin, but you can still remove them for the recipe if you prefer.  This recipe will produce a thick sauce in just a few hours without having to worry about scorching or stirring.  It does not require pre-boiling of tomatoes or skinning.  You can also alter it to suit your tastes.  It is unanimously approved of in my house by my husband and kids so it is definitely a winner!

Marinara Sauce with Oven Roasted Tomatoes

Ingredients:

1/2 bushel of tomatoes (usually a box about the size of a case of paper and weighing about 25 lbs)
2 heads of garlic, cloves separated and outer skin removed
2 red peppers, chopped
3 large onions, chopped
sugar
lemon juice
herbs of choice (pepper, oregano, rosemary, garlic salt, red pepper flakes, etc,)

Clear liquid is what you drain.

Directions:

Wash and roughly cut up tomatoes.  Put in baking pans.  Add garlic cloves, peppers and onions.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 hours or until the tomatoes are all shriveled up and are floating in their own juices.

Here is the important part and will keep you from having to wait all day while your sauce thickens!  DRAIN your tomatoes in a colander.

Drained tomatoes.

Take your shriveled tomatoes and put in a large pot, measuring the amount as you transfer it.  For each quart (4 cups), add two tablespoons of each sugar and lemon juice.  You can use less sugar if you prefer, but we like a sweeter sauce.

Add your herbs of choice.  I added pepper, fresh chopped oregano and rosemary, garlic salt to taste and red pepper flakes.  Use an immersion blender to blend ingredients to a sauce-like consistency (or regular blender).  Bring to a boil.  Sauce should be thick.

Sauce just before blending.

Can in sterilized jars and water bath for 45 minutes.  My total was 11 pints but that can vary depending on tomato type.