- Salsa

SALSA


5 lbs tomatoes (about 15 medium)
4 Jalapeno peppers
2 hot chili peppers
1 large Spanish onion, chopped (about 1½ c)
1 large green pepper, chopped (1½ c)
1 large red pepper, chopped (1½ c)
3 cloves garlic, fine chopped
1 can tomato paste
¾ c white vinegar
3 T sugar
1 T pickling salt
2 tsp paprika
3 T chopped cilantro

Blanch tomatoes in boiling water and rinse in cold water. Peel and squeeze out any excess juice. Place tomatoes in a large saucepan.

Remove cores from the peppers and chilies. Chop the peppers, chilies, onion, garlic and cilantro. Add the peppers, onion, garlic, tomato paste, vinegar, sugar, pickling salt, paprika to the tomatoes in the saucepan. Mix well. Bring to a boil over medium heat and simmer, uncovered, for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Add cilantro and continue cooking for 15 – 30 minutes under desired consistency is reached. Stir occasionally.

Spoon sauce into hot sterilized jars filing to within ½ inch of the top of the jars. Process at the boil for 30 minutes.

Notes:

This year I used:

50 lbs tomatoes
10 large onions
50 assorted red and green peppers
5 Jalapeno peppers
3 hot red chilies (hotter than Jalapeno peppers)
2 orange chilies (milder than Jalapeno peppers)
6 large heads of garlic
12 x each of the other ingredients

Yield: 30 quarts