{Easy Basic Salsa Recipe}

A short time ago, I was given about 10 lbs of tomatoes. Although I absolutely love tomatoes, there's just no way to eat that much before they spoil. I decided that doing some preserves would be the best option, and salsa is a great choice! I've looked through a number of recipes before settling on this particular one. I like it because it's simple, requires basic ingredients (no fancy spices), cooking time is long enough that there's no processing of jars to follow. It's simple, fresh and delicious!

(click on images to enlarge)

INGREDIENTS:

* 5 lbs of tomatoes
* 4 green peppers
* 1 large onion
* some jalapeno or other hot peppers (amount will depend on how spicy you want your salsa to be; I made mine fairly mild so that my kid could enjoy it)
* 4 tablespoons of minced garlic
* 2 tablespoons of fresh chopped cilantro (I didn't have any fresh so I substituted with dried)
* 1/2 cup of vinegar (5% acidity)
* 4 teaspoons of salt
* 2 teaspoons of sugar for every pint filled (not added; if you do decide to use sugar, put 2 teaspoons in each jar before filling them with hot salsa)

YIELD: 2.75 L of salsa

DIRECTIONS:

1. Chop tomatoes into small chunks (as fine or as chunky as you prefer).

2. Cut up the onions and all of your peppers into small chucks/pieces.

3. Put all of the ingredients (except sugar if you're using it) into a large pan, mix and bring to a boil.

4. Once the mixture has boiled, reduce the heat to medium and cook it for approximately 1 hour (eventually, the amount will reduce by about half). Mix it frequently, or it'll burn.

5. Immediately after your salsa is finished its cooking stage, pour it out into sterilized jars (don't forget to sterilize the lids also!) and make sure to leave a little space at the top of the jar.

*** TIP: you don't need to sterilize the jars right before filling them, prepping in advance is fine. I do recommend boiling the lids for about 5 minutes before sealing your jars as it'll help soften the rubber rim. ***

6. Wipe the rims of the jar with a paper towel to ensure that they are clean and dry. Put lids on jars and seal tightly (but not too tight!). Careful, the jars will become very hot very quickly!

7. Wait to hear the “pop”, meaning that the jars sealed properly (the hot liquid that you just poured should seal the jars on their own, but if you feel more comfortable, go ahead and use a hot bath for your jars, this will not affect the salsa - but definitely NOT needed).

Bon appétit!

Nadia