Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

Homemade Spaghetti Sauce.  It's amazing!  It's a lot of work, but if you've got tomatoes from your garden this summer that you need to use up, this is a great way to get through them.  Freeze it, can it...whatever.  This isn't so much a recipe as much as it's a list of ingredients.  I have no idea how much of what I used.  I taste as I go.

6lbs. tomatoes (I just used whatever a neighbor gave us.  I have no idea what kind they were...but they worked.)

Italian Seasoning

Red Wine Vinegar

salt

pepper

sugar

Young Living Basil and Oregano Essential Oil (optional)

garlic powder

onion powder

celery

onion

olive oil

Turn on your Instant Pot to the Sauté feature.  When it's hot, add the olive oil.  Slice an onion or two into rings, and chop a few stalks of celery.  Toss it all into the olive oil and sauté until soft.  While they're sautéing, start chopping all of your tomatoes.  No need to remove the skin.  I just cut them in half, cut the part out where the stem attached to the fruit, and gave them a rough chop.  Throw them in on top of the celery and onion.  As the tomatoes release their juices, use a whisk or a potato masher to mash the tomatoes down.  Fill the pot with tomatoes until it reaches the max line.  Smash them down one more time so that it's just below the max line.  If you can add more, go for it.  Just make sure that as you mash them down, your final amount is just below the max line.  Add a tsp. of salt and pepper, put the lid on your instant pot, set it to sealing, and process on the manual function, high pressure for 7 minutes.  

When it's done, carefully release the pressure and remove the lid.  Turn the Instant Pot back on the Sauté feature and cook the mixture down until it has reduced by half and stir it frequently.  This will take a couple of hours.  Once it has reduced by half, blend with an immersion blender until it's completely smooth.  Start adding the other ingredients and taste as you go.  I added one drop of each essential oil, plenty of garlic powder and onion powder.  And sugar until it was as sweet as we liked it.