Canning: Salsa for Canning

By pavaldez

Ingredients

• 1 lb plum-style tomatoes
• 1/2 lb jalapeno peppers
• 1/2 lb onion
• 1/4 c. bottled lemon juice or vinegar
• 1 1/2 tsp salt

Details

Servings 2

Preparation

Step 1

Peel and core the tomatoes:

Bring a large pot of water to the boil. Have a large bowl of ice water at the ready. Gently lower the tomatoes into the boiling water and blanch them for 60 seconds. Remove with a strainer and transfer them to the ice water. Once cool, slit the skins; they should peel off easily. Remove the cores with a small paring knife. Discard skins and cores.

Chop the vegetables:

Wearing latex or plastic gloves, chop the jalapenos finely, removing veins and seeds if you wish to reduce the heat. (If you wish to reduce the heat further, replace some with regular green peppers, but do not increase the total weight of peppers in the recipe.) Chop the onion finely. Chop the tomatoes coarsely. Add the peppers, onions, tomatoes, lemon juice and salt to a large saucepan.

Cook the salsa: Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for an additional 10 minutes.

Fill and close the jars: Using canning tongs, remove the jars from the canner, carefully pouring the water back into the canner. Set next to the salsa in the saucepan. Turn the heat under the canner to high. Use a ladle to pour the salsa into the jars through a canning funnel, leaving 1/2-inch headspace at the top. Run a clean chopstick around the inside of the jar to dislodge any trapped air. Wipe the rims of the jars with a damp paper towel. Place the lids on, and screw on the rings until just finger-tight.

Seal the jars: