Sheree's Homemade Cooking Made Easy

I love canning salsa, but I can honestly say I am not a fan of the vinegar-based salsa recipes that are out there. I was given this recipe several years ago and it is one my family loves. You will need the following ingredients:

Yields: 5 half-pint jars

SalsaPhoto bySheree

Recipe:

2 pounds of fresh tomatoes, roma is the best

2 cloves of garlic

1 medium onion

1 jalapeno pepper

1 teaspoon of canning salt

1/2 teaspoon of black pepper

1/2 cup of fresh lime juice, or bottled

Place 3 quarts of water in a large stainless steel pan and place it on the stove and bring to a boil.

In the meantime, wash the tomatoes.

SalsaPhoto bySheree

When the water has come to a boil place your tomatoes into the boiling water and heat them until the skins start peeling away.

SalsaPhoto bySheree

Using a slotted spoon, remove the tomatoes into a bowl and repeat this process until all the tomatoes have been processed. Tip: You can use this anytime you need a big batch of tomatoes peeled. It also works great on peaches!

Let the tomatoes sit until they get cool enough to peel the skins off and core them. (Some people like to put the tomatoes into cold water but I don’t do this as I do not want the extra water seeping into my tomatoes.)

SalsaPhoto bySheree

Place the tomatoes into a stainless steel pot.

Dice the onion and garlic into small pieces.

Seed the jalapeno and dice it into small pieces. Tip: If you like spicer salsa add another jalapeno pepper and leave the seeds in.

Wash and pick the leaves from the cilantro and mince it up into small pieces.

SalsaPhoto bySheree

Add all the ingredients to the pot of tomatoes and bring to a boil and then simmer for 5 minutes.

Prepare your water bath canner and begin heating the water, just don’t boil it. You want the water in the canner to be almost the same temperature as the jars you are adding.

SalsaPhoto bySheree

I like to use an immersion blender to blend my salsa into a smooth consistency but you can leave it chunky if you prefer.

SalsaPhoto bySheree

Place the salsa into the jars, debubble them and then wipe the rims with a damp cloth. Place the lids and rings on the jars and carefully place them into the water bath canner and process them for 10 minutes.

SalsaPhoto bySheree

Carefully remove the jars from the canner and place onto a dry towel and leave undisturbed for 24 hours. After they have cooled completely check to make sure that all jars have sealed and if not place the unsealed jar into the refrigerator. Enjoy!

SalsaPhoto bySheree

Note: If you are not a fan of cilantro you can leave it out.

You do not have to waterbath can this recipe, you can just refrigerate it and eat it within a few days.