I promise, I’m almost done with the salsas- just two more to go after this one!
This salsa is your basic, straightforward salsa that comes to us, once again, from the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. We were joking around that weekend (which was a month ago already-yikes!) that next year we’ll have to find a new cookbook to cook from, because we’ve tried all these wonderful salsas already. But there are a few that remain untried yet, and will give us something new to add to next years salsa queue.
This salsa can use whatever hot peppers you’d like. If you prefer a milder salsa, use mostly Hungarian wax peppers, with a few jalapenos or serranos thrown in for a touch of heat. Don’t like heat at all? Just use some mild, sweet banana peppers and a few extra red bell peppers. We didn’t add the optional hot pepper sauce, because we used so many actual hot peppers, we didn’t want to muddle their excellent flavor by adding a hot sauce. This particular salsa was one we doubled…we used the biggest pot in the house and ended up having to cook down the tomatoes a bit in order to get the remaining ingredients into the pot. This is a perfect all-purpose salsa, and a really easy one for a salsa-making beginner.
Zesty Salsa
makes about 12 8-ounce jars or six pint jars
10 cups chopped cored peeled tomatoes 5 cups chopped seeded green bell peppers 5 cups chopped onions 2 1/2 cups chopped seeded chili peppers, such as hot banana, Hungarian wax, serrano or jalapeno 1 1/4 cups cider vinegar 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped 2 TBS finely chopped cilantro 1 TBS salt 1 tsp hot pepper sauce (optional)Prepare canner, jars and lids.
In a large stainless steel saucepan, combine all the ingredients. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Reduce heat and boil gently, stirring frequently, until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes.
Ladle hot salsa into prepared jars, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if necessary, by adding more hot salsa. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to finger-tip tight.
Place jars in canner, ensuring they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil and process both 8-ounce and pint jars for 15 minutes. Remove canner lid. Wait 5 minutes, then remove jars, cool and store.