Do you have a truck load of tomatoes in your garden, or on your counter? Are you looking for an EASY-er Canned Salsa recipe. Have I got one for you. We like our salsa mild, but with taste. I've canned for several years and the recipes I have found have a bazillion different peppers in them and they just get too difficult. So here is a classic salsa that is safe for canning.
CLASSIC MILD SALSA
Makes 6 Quart
22-24 Medium sized tomatoes
2 Large Bell Peppers
1 Large Red Pepper
1 Large White Onion (make sure it is very large, otherwise use two)
1 Large Red Onion
1 Cup Finely Chopped Jalapeno Peppers (About 5-6)
12 Ounce (2 small cans) Tomato Paste
1 Cup White Vinegar
1/2 Cup Sugar
1/4 Cup Salt
4 Tbsp Cilantro
3 Cloves minced Garlic
1. The tomatoes need to be skinned. You do this by boiling water in a large pot and then putting the tomatoes in the boiling water for 20-30 SECONDS and then putting them in a bowl of ice water. Then you can peal them.
2. Cut all of the peppers in half (green, red and jalapeno). Remove all of the seeds and rinse them. If you don't remove the jalapeno seeds, your salsa will NOT be mild.
3. In a food processor, or chopper chop Bell Peppers, Onions, Jalapenos, Garlic and the tomatoes. They can be chopped by hand, however, the food processor is easier. Also, I don't like my salsa really chunky, so the food processor works better. If you want a chunkier salsa you can chop half by hand.
4. Put all ingredients into a large pot. Bring to boil and simmer for 25 minutes. This process boils off some of the liquid from the tomatoes.
5. Place lids and rings into a small pot with water and bring the water to a boil. This will get the lids soft so they will seal better. Leave them in the hot water until you place them on the jars.
6. Also start your water bath (canner) water on the burner at this time. It takes a while to get the water boiling.
7. Pour the salsa into hot jars (you get the jars hot from putting them in a sink of hot water),. You want to leave an inch of air at the top of the bottles.
8. Wipe the rim of the jars with a wet cloth to get any drips off and the seal them with the lids, making sure you screw them tight.
9. Place jars into a water bath and bring the water to a boil. The water in the water bath needs to be at least an inch above the jars. Boil salsa jars for 20 minutes for Quart or 15 minutes for Pint.
10. Take the bottles out of the water bath canner and place them on a towel. They will seal as the jars cool. You know they are sealed by pressing down on the lid of the jar, if it doesn't pop when you push it then they are sealed.
