Canned Tomatoes in Tomato Juice

Cooking method

1. Step 1:

   

   How do you can tomatoes in tomato juice? Gather your ingredients. Use two kinds of tomatoes here: small, firm canning varieties, and large, fleshy, very ripe ones for the juice. Wash the small tomatoes and let them drain. Wash the large ones as well.

2. Step 2:

   

   From the large tomatoes, cut out the stem ends and cut the flesh into several pieces. If the tomatoes have a tough, thick skin, it's best to remove it: pour boiling water over them, then plunge them into cold water and peel. If you're using a blender, you can skip the peeling — the skins gather on the blade and you just lift them off and discard them.

3. Step 3:

   

   Purée the prepared tomatoes in a blender or run them through a food grinder.

4. Step 4:

   

   Pour the tomato purée into a non-reactive (enameled) pot, add the sugar and salt, and set it over low heat. When it comes to a boil, add the bay leaves and peppercorns, lower the heat to its lowest setting, and simmer the purée for about 15 minutes, stirring now and then so it doesn't scorch on the bottom.

5. Step 5:

   

   Ahead of time, wash the jars with a baking-soda solution and sterilize them. I always sterilize in the oven — you get a lot of sterile jars in a fairly short time. Set the jars, still damp, neck-down on the oven rack in a cold oven, set it to 300°F (150°C), and hold quart (1-liter) jars there for 15 minutes. Wash the lids and either boil them or sterilize them in the oven along with the jars.

6. Step 6:

   

   While the tomato juice cooks, pack the small tomatoes into the sterilized jars. Pour boiling water over them so they're fully covered, set the lids on loosely, and let them sit until the juice is ready.

7. Step 7:

   

   Drain the water from the jars of tomatoes and fill them with the hot tomato juice up to the shoulder of each jar. Set the lids on top and place the jars in a pot of water with a cloth lining the bottom. The water should come up to the shoulders of the jars. Process over low heat at a gentle simmer for 15 minutes. Seal the jars right away, then turn them upside down, wrap them in a blanket to cool slowly, and store them in the pantry. Enjoy!