Pressure Canning Pizza Sauce

I was given tomatoes that needed to be used up.  These were locally grown tomatoes here in Florida.  So over the week of Thanksgiving I was canning them.  I put the sauce in half pints which enough to make one large pizza.  I made my sauce the lazy way in the crock pot to reduce the sauce down.  I did this over night.  

First I washed my tomatoes and cut the stem core out.  I didn’t blanch them to remove the skins.  I just left the skins on.  I used my food processor to puree the whole tomato.  You don’t notice the seeds or skins after the sauce cooks down.  There is lots of nutrients in the tomato skins.  I filled my crock pot up with this puree.  I also chopped  2 medium onions and 2 sweet bell peppers with the processor with a few tomatoes to add to the sauce.   I set the crock pot on high for about eight hours over night.  The sauce should be reduced about half.  

The next morning I washed my jars and lids.  The jars will be processed in the pressure canner so the jars only need to be clean but not sterilized. The sauce needed some tomato past to thicken it.  I added a 10 ounce can of tomato paste to the sauce.  Also 1 tablespoon of dried oregano is added to the sauce.  

When I filled the jars with sauce, a 1/8 teaspoon of citric acid and 1/4 teaspoon pickling salt was added to each jars.  The best way to add the lids is to wipe the rims of the jar with a paper towel dipped in white vinegar.  Run you finger over the rim and listen for the ring so you know the rim is clean and will seal.  Place a clean flat lid on and screw on the ring finger tight.  

Process the jars for 10 minutes under pressure.  I live at sea level  so I did it at 10 pounds.  All the jars sealed nicely.  The sauce turned out nice and makes a nice base for the toppings on the pizza.