Saturday, August 7, 2010

Fresh Vegetable Salsa

I've made a few different types of salsa over the last couple of years... zesty salsa, zucchini salsa, and pineapple-peach salsa. All three have been pretty good, but I'm still looking for an even better recipe that we just love. So I figured I'd try a new one this time. I found one in my Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. It tasted really good as I was filling the jars and its nice and thick... just how we love it! We'll see how it is after processing in a few weeks. I made this very mild because I've been having problems with spicy foods and my gall bladder. I made 3 pints and 5 half-pints from this recipe. The book says you should get 8 half-pints or 5 pints from this.

Fresh Vegetable Salsa

7 cups chopped, cored, peeled tomatoes
2 cups coarsely chopped onion
1 cup coarsely chopped bell pepper
8 jalapeno peppers, seeded and finely chopped (I left these out and just added some more bell pepper)
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 can tomato paste
3/4 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup loosely packed, finely chopped cilantro
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

In a large stainless steel saucepan, combine all ingredients. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly.


Reduce heat and boil gently, stirring frequently, until thickened, about 30 minutes.

Ladle hot salsa into hot jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Wipe rims, put lids and screw bands on jars, and place in canner filled with water. Make sure jars are completely covered by water. Bring to a boil and process half-pints and pints for 20 minutes. Then remove canner lid, wait 5 minutes, and remove jars to cool for 24 hours.

2 comments:

The Voogts said...

This sounds similar to the recipe I make, but I've never used tomato paste. I bet that does make it thick. Hmmm. Maybe I'll have to try that. I can't wait to make more salsa! We have fresh peppers and tomatoes from our garden right now. And our onions will be ready soon too. Hopefully next week!

Sara said...

Yep, its very similar to the zesty salsa recipe, just without the hot peppers. I think I remember you posting the zesty salsa recipe as the one you use, too. I like this one better b/c its thicker, though.