#Hot Salsa

It’s that time of year. The garden is almost coming to an end. The beans are already finished so is the lettuce. I already tilled them under for compost. The tomatoes and peppers are ripe and waiting to be used. So yesterday we made Salsa. Amazing, how little you actually get from so many tomatoes. We’ve been using this recipe for a few years now. Every year I try to modify it a little. I must say, this year the Salsa is the best we’ve ever made. If you’re not careful and cook it too long it turns mushy. We got it just right this time.

Usually I use Hot Hungarian peppers to put some bite into the Salsa, but this year I grew Superhot Chillies. I never grew them before and didn’t know how hot they’d be. I touched a piece with my tongue and thought I’d die. They are hot. So we used only two of the Chilli peppers and the Salsa is hot enough. When I used the Hungarian ones I put in seven peppers and it was not hot.

Here is the recipe I used this year.

Note: This recipe makes a hot salsa. For a milder salsa use less hot peppers.

Ingredients:

Chop:
*5 - quarts ripe Roma tomatoes (2 Ice cream pails) (Roma are the best because they don’t have so much liquid.)
*12 - sweet peppers ( I used red and yellow ones, even one green one)

*2 – super hot chilli peppers (finely chopped)

*2 1/2 - medium sized onions
*5 - tablespoons fresh parsley (finely chopped)
*Dry basil (fresh would be better. 1 tbsp)
*2 - teaspoons dried Oregano   (or fresh, better)

*5 - cloves garlic (crushed)
*1 - tablespoon salt
*Juice of 1 lime

Boil chopped tomatoes for about 15 minutes in a large pot (We use a 6 quarts steel pot). Once it boils remove most of the liquid to decrease cooking time. Dip a ladle into the boiling tomato pulp and let the foam run into the ladle. Using a sieve helps to save pulp.

Add the rest of the ingredients.

Boil for 20 minutes on medium heat stirring frequently. (Don’t overcook, otherwise Salsa will turn to mush.)

In the meantime:

Sterilize 9 – 500 ml mason jars (I use Sodium Metabisulfite. Used in Winemaking.)

Sterilize new lids.

Fill hot water into jars to make them hot.

Ladle salsa into hot mason jars

Put sterilized lids onto jars. (Don’t over tighten the screw bands. Just fingertip tight)

Put filled and sealed mason jars into 250 F preheated oven for 20 minutes.

Remove jars from oven. Lids will pop and seal when they cool. No need to keep filled jars in fridge.

Enjoy.