Berry season is upon us once again. I recently decided to do something with the dozens of quart bags of previous years’ harvests in my freezer. I made several batches of low sugar jellies and then had the idea to make a new berry based barbecue sauce. I used raspberries, blackberries, homemade Three Tomato Sauce, homemade adobo sauce, and homemade chipotles. I tried it without the tomato sauce and without the adobo sauce, but both ingredients add a depth of flavor the sauce needed.

An immersion blender is the easiest way to blend the ingredients before straining out the seeds, but it can be done in batches in a regular blender.

8 cups frozen raspberries
4 cups frozen blackberries
2 cups tomato sauce
1 cup balsamic vinegar
1 cup adobo sauce
1 onion, diced
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbs molasses
1 Tbs smoked paprika
2 tsp sweet paprika
1-3 diced chipotles from adobo sauce (deseeded for less heat)
Salt to taste

In a large stockpot combine all ingredients except salt and simmer on low until the onions and garlic are cooked through. Remove from heat and purée with an immersion blender. Strain the sauce through a fine mesh strainer or a chinois conical strainer to remove seeds. Return strained sauce to the stockpot and put back on the stove. Simmer, stirring often, until sauce reaches your preferred consistency. Salt to taste, approximately 2-3 teaspoons. Remove from heat. Ladle sauce into sterilized canning jars and seal lids in a water bath.