Easy Canned Salsa

If you are finding yourself with an over abundance of tomatoes, here's a great recipe for making and canning your very own salsa!  For this recipe, you will be preparing the salsa with the skin still on the tomato.  The final product with be a little liquidy, so if you prefer less liquid and more "meat", then you'll want to cook your tomates a little before adding the rest of your ingredients.  I don't seed my tomatoes either because I prefer the authenticity of the salsa with the seeds still in it (I also leave the jalapeño seeds in).  Hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Ingredients:

• 7 cups diced tomatoes (about 5 lbs)
• 6 green onions, coarsely chopped
• 6 jalapeño peppers, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 T. minced cilantro (dried cilantro is fine)
• 2 t. salt
• 1/2 cup vinegar, 5% acidity
• 2 T. lemon juice

Directions:

Combine all of the ingredients in a large saucepan and stir until you bring the entire mixture to a good boil.  (Meantime, prepare your canning jars.)  Once your mixture has begun to boil, reduce the heat and simmer for about 15 minutes. 


Once your salsa is ready, you'll want ladle the salsa into your jars.  Leave only about 1/4 inch space between the salsa and rim of your jars.  Make sure your rim is clean before screwing on the the band and seal.  Don't over-tighten the band, as there needs to be room for the air to escape while processing. 

Process your jars in boiling water that covers your jars with at least 1 inch of water for 15 minutes.  Once they are done, let them cool (and listen to their little pop as they seal!) before putting them away.  Make sure you properly label them with the date on which you made the batch.  They are supposed to be good for at least 1 year from the date they canned, but we never know since we go through them so quickly!

I usually can mine in 1/2 pint jars, and will usually get about 6 of them.  Provecho!