Roasted Eggplant, Pepper, & Tomato Puttanesca Sauce (Water-Bath Canning Recipe)
This roasted vegetable puttanesca sauce is a rare find... it's a safe and tested water-bath canning recipe from Ball that will help you when your garden is overflowing with eggplant, sweet peppers, and tomatoes! Try this piquant sauce on pasta, as a simmer sauce for chicken or pork, or served over grilled or broiled fish for an easy meal-in-a-jar from your pantry!
Ingredients
- 6 lbs Roma or other paste-type tomatoes
- 2 lbs eggplant, diced into 1" cubes
- 3 large onions, unpeeled and cut into 4-6 wedges (remove tip of root end)
- 3 large red, orange, or yellow sweet bell peppers
- 2 cups dry red wine (16 oz)
- ½ cup balsamic vinegar (5% acidity or higher) (real wine vinegar, not balsamic glaze or sauce or flavored vinegar)
- 1 ½ cups kalamata olives, pitted and chopped or sliced
- 1 tbsp anchovy paste or chopped fillets in oil (optional but strongly recommended)
- 2 tsp salt (or to taste)
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper (or to taste)
- 6 large garlic cloves, peeled and minced
- 5 tbsp capers (recipe as written says 3.5 oz jar, drained, see post for notes)
- nonstick cooking spray or olive oil (for sheet pans)
Instructions
roast vegetables:
- Preheat your oven to 400℉ (200℃ or gas mark 6).
- Coat your baking sheets lightly with pan spray or a very thin coating of olive oil (not a puddle of oil, just a light spray or just enough to keep your veggies from sticking too much).
- Wash the tomatoes, peppers, and onions, and pat dry.
- Slice the tomatoes in half lengthwise, and cut out the stem and any tough green or white core in a v-shape (a sharp paring or chef's knife works well for this). Place on oiled baking sheets, avoiding crowding the pan.
- Roast the tomatoes for about 45 minutes, or until the skins are starting to char and the tomatoes are beginning to soften. Set aside to cool.
- Prepare the other vegetables as described in the ingredients section above (1" dice for eggplant, halved and seeded for peppers, and cut into wedges with the skins on for onions).
- If you have room in your oven to fit all the trays in, you can roast these at the same time as the tomatoes, or stagger and rotate them in as you remove the trays of tomato. They will cook more quickly than the tomatos. The eggplant may only need 20 minutes to roast, and the peppers and onions about half an hour.
- Remove the vegetables from the oven, turn off the heat, and let them cool on their pans.
prep jars and canner:
- While the veggies are cooling, prep your pint (or smaller) jars and preheat your canner.
- Wash the canning jars and lids with hot, soapy water and rinse well. Set the lids aside.
- Fill the canning pot with enough water to cover the jars, and begin to bring it up to a boil.
- Do not boil the lids (unless you are using reusable lids, then follow manufacturer instructions).
peel & chop vegetables:
- When the vegetables are cool enough to handle, carefully remove the charred tomato peel. The peels should separate from the tomato quite easily.
- Rough chop the roasted tomatoes, and transfer them and their juices to your large non-reactive pot and place on low heat while you peel and dice the rest of the roasted veggies.
- Remove any loose or charred pepper skin and roughly dice the peppers. Add these to the pot, along with the roasted diced eggplant..
- Remove the tough outer layers of the onion and the woody root end. Dice the roasted onion and stir this into the sauce as well.
combine and simmer sauce:
- Add the wine, vinegar, chopped olives, capers, salt, pepper, garlic, and oregano and stir the mixture well to combine. Add the anchovies if you are using them.
- Turn the heat up to medium and bring the pot up to a low boil.
- Let the roasted eggplant puttanesca sauce simmer uncovered for 15 minutes.
- Taste your sauce, and adjust the seasoning if necessary (with only safe canning ingredients... adding more salt, pepper, oregano, or a small amount of other dried herbs is ok... save other changes for when you reheat the sauce before serving).
jar the sauce:
- Using a canning funnel (if possible) fill the jars with the hot puttanesca sauce mixture, leaving ½" headspace. Work quickly and keep mixture hot while filling jars.
- Using a thin non-metallic spatula, thin wooden spoon, or jar tool, remove air bubbles from the jars and adjust headspace as needed.
- Wipe jar rims. I use a paper towel or clean lint-free towel dipped in hot water, followed with a clean towel dampened with distilled vinegar. Clean jar rims make good seals!
- Place your prepared lids on the jars and secure with rings (check rings for dents and discard any damaged rings).
water-bath process jars:
- Using jar tongs or a canning jar rack, transfer the hot jars into the boiling water canner and make sure there is at least an inch of water over the jars with room to boil. Top up from a hot kettle of water if needed.
- Process in your boiling water bath for 45 minutes (increase as needed for elevations above 1000 ft). Make sure the water is boiling hard the whole time. Do not start the processing timer until the pot is boiling vigorously.
- When the time is up, turn off the burner under the pot, wait 5 minutes, and then carefully remove the jars with jar tongs (or remove the jar rack, if you used one).
- Place the jars on a towel-covered or wooden surface or wire rack and leave undisturbed until completely cool. If it's cold or drafty, you may want to cover the jars with a towel so they cool evenly. Do not tighten the bands (unless you are using reusable lids: if so, follow manufacturer instructions).
- After jars have cooled completely (12-24 hours) remove the bands and check for seals. Make sure that the button on the lid is depressed and the jars have a good vacuum seal.
- Refrigerate any jars that did not seal and use promptly, or reheat and reprocess with new lids within 24 hours.
- Gently wash jars or wipe with a damp cloth, label, and store in a cool, dark pantry. For best quality, enjoy home-canned goods within 12-18 months.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
