Canned and Ready for Eating
Salsa is one of my favorite things to eat during the long months of winter. It reminds me of all the good things I grew over the summer, and combines all of my favorite flavors. I love the zest of garlic, the scent of cilantro, the punch of the hot peppers.
I made my salsa as soon as I had 3kg of Roma tomatoes, even though I’m likely to get a bunch more in the coming weeks. Those will be for making tomato sauce, another favorite.
Here’s my salsa recipe (adapted from this recipe):
Garden Salsa
Blanch, peel and core 3 kg Roma tomatoes. Chop them coarsely then layer with a sprinkling of pickling salt in a colander over a pot. Let them sit overnight in a cool place, allowing much of the liquid to drain.
The next morning, start chopping. You can use a food processor if you like, but I prefer to chop by hand to get a chunkier salsa (with the exception of the peppers – those I use the food processor for).
Including the tomatoes, chop and add to a stock pot:
3 medium onions
1 large head garlic
200 g Serrano peppers
1 medium green pepper
1/2 medium red pepper
3/4 bunch cilantro
1/8 C cumin seed, ground
1/2 can (3 oz) tomato paste
Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes. It’s now ready to can. When canning, add 1 tbsp lime juice to the bottom of each 250 ml jar or 2 tbsp to a 500 ml jar. This increases the acidity and makes for safer water bath canning of tomatoes. Please refer to another website such as this for canning instructions.
Makes 2 liters of salsa.
Making Salsa
Gardeninggrrl 