The garden has been bountiful this year. With 4 plum tomato plants, 4 Early Girl, 4 Bonny Best and 1 Rutgers plant I’m swimming in tomatoes. Also with 12 sweet pepper plants, 8 jalapeno plants, 4 salsa pepper plants and about 5 dozen onions, I’ve decided to spice things up a bit when it comes to canning and preserving. I’ve already replenished my canned tomato store plus a lot more, so I’ve decided to can some salsa as well to use up the abundance of peppers. (Note: this is the 1st year that I’ve really reaped excellent large sweet peppers). Here are a couple of recipes I used that produced EXCELLENT canned salsa (i.e. not the fresh, use up immediately kind which I also have recipes for).
Mild Salsa for Canning [ canned ]
3 quarts tomatoes, peeled and chopped
3 large bell peppers, chopped
3 jalapeno peppers, chopped
4 medium onions, chopped
1 large bulb, chopped and minced
1 cup white vinegar
1 teaspoon whole oregano
3 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper (for hot), reduce the amount to make milder
Blend first three ingredients. Simmer until reduced to 2 quarts. Stir in remaining ingredients. Put 1 teaspoon vinegar in bottom of each jar. Fill with salsa and process 30 minutes in a water bath.
HOT Salsa for Canning [ canned ]
Servings: 4 to 5 pints
8 cups peeled, cored, chopped fresh tomatoes
1 to 2 cups seeded and chopped fresh mixed hot peppers; use more or less to taste. I used the following proportion to produce a nice burn hot salsa: 10% habenero, 10% thai chiles, 60% jalepeno and 20% salsa (or green) chile
2 cups chopped onion
8 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon salt
¾ cup cider vinegar
¼ cup fresh lime juice
Combine all ingredients in a large pot. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Reduce heat and simmer about 10 minutes. Pour hot salsa into hot pint jars, leaving ¼ inch headspace. Seal jars with two piece caps. Process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes.