2020 Craver Kitchen Pasta Sauces

While 2020 has proven to be a very, ahem, interesting year, we’ve had excellent summer weather here in Tennessee. The result – a fantastic growing season, especially for tomatoes.

Since we’ve been stuck at home, we decided to take advantage of the bumper crop and make extra pasta sauce this year – available exclusively to family and friends. Four different varieties, two of which are limited releases for 2020.

Limited quantities are up for grabs at $10 each or 3 for $27 – Venmo, Zelle or cash.

2020 Releases

Fun Facts about our Sauce

What makes it so yummy?

In short – high quality ingredients!

The Tomatoes: We use a specific type of heirloom Amish tomato grown specifically for us at Willowbrook Farm in Murfreesboro, TN. These are amazing tomatoes – thick and meaty like typical Roma tomatoes but naturally sweeter. These tomatoes allowed us to eliminate all added sugar from the recipe.

The Spices: Most spices are purchased from Savory Spice, specifically at the downtown Franklin location. High quality, whole leaf spices and real minced garlic give the sauce more flavor depth than the powders used in most commercial sauces.

What’s the backstory on the sauce names?

Our animals, of course.

Sassy Sauce – Named after our beloved, but VERY sassy, calico Sundae. In previous years, this sauce was called Sundae’s Sassy Sauce. In 2020 we dropped the cat names but keep it Sassy.

Sundrunk Basil – This one also had a name change in 2020, from Bailey’s Basil and Thyme (named after our grey tabby who is no longer with us) to Sundrunk Basil. We decided to separate the animal names from the sauce but still keep the theme of our pets intact. All our animals love lying in the sun, soaking up the rays. They walk away a little dazed and satisfied – much like finishing a meal with this savory, luscious sauce.

Peppy Basil and Super Sass were two that just came about because of the sauce making process this year – a end of batch mixture for the Peppy and a bit too much red pepper in the Super Sass as we adjusted the recipe for this year’s tomatoes. (Yes, each year the tomatoes will taste a bit different and have a different water to pulp ratio, which requires recipe tweaking.)

Is the sauce gluten-free?

There is no gluten in the tomatoes, paste and spices we use. We use cornstarch as a thickener instead of flour.

What was the biggest surprise with sauce making?

There were two:

1. How different same variety of tomatoes are from year to year because of weather conditions. We have recipes from each year with slight tweaks to keep the flavors consistent and a journal where we keep notes from each canning year.

2. The number of comments we get about kids LOVING the Basil sauce. I’ve heard from more than one parent that their kids, who typically don’t care of sauce, go back for seconds. They are amazed and are always asking for more. P.S. – We’ve heard this from a couple adults too.

How long will the sauce last?

It’s so delicious, you’ll want to use it right away! You can always come back for more.

Officially: The USDA recommends consuming acidic canned goods (like pasta sauce) within 18 months. We use new, current year Ball brand lids which are now have an 18 month shelf life seal. These lids are also BPA free.

When opening your jar, use a bottle opener. It should be a strong seal and you should hear a noticeable pop when the seal breaks. Don’t forget to store any leftovers in the fridge for up to a week.

Who is Craver Kitchen?

It’s a side hustle that could become a second career in retirement. (We’ll see!) For now, we produce a limited quantity of hand-made, small-batch, boutique pasta sauces in Franklin, TN, available to family and friends in the area (who are ALWAYS asking when they can get more sauce).

Reach out if you’d like more information or have questions.