Gena’s Tomato-Trinity Puree

The chef at the New Orleans School of Cooking said there are two trinities.  The Divine one we knew, and the other, he said, gives a divine flavour and is found in many of the world’s favourite dishes.  It is a combination of onion, celery, and sweet pepper.  Add tomato and oregano and it is Italian.  Add chili and tomato for Spanish or Mexican.  Add curry for Indian.  Add cream for French.  By making a blender puree of those four vegetables, and then canning it, I use up a lot of end-of-the-season garden produce and have a head start on many sauces.  The kids don’t pick out the chunks.

Wash well and then chop up:

any extra ripe tomatoes
celery (leaves especially are flavourful)
onions
sweet peppers (any variety)

Use about 2 cups of tomato chunks and add some of each of the other vegetables in the blender.  Puree.  Sometimes I add some parsley and basil to this puree, and then I bring it to a boil and let it cook for at least half an hour while I sterilize the jars.  I add about a tsp. of salt for each quart, and then fill the jars with the puree.  Put the lids and rings on, and put in the canner with a hot water bath until it comes to a boil.  After 20 minutes, remove the jars (make sure they sealed) and store them in the cool pantry.