We Have Salsa Once Again!

About a month ago we ran out of the salsa I canned last year. It made me a little nervous. I didn't want to buy salsa. I wanted my own salsa! And our menu can't survive without it. We don't have a farmers' market anywhere near us, but Larriland Farms said on their website that they had garden tomatoes to pick. So, last Saturday our family went and picked 40 lbs. of tomatoes at $0.49/lb! (Not to mention 50 lbs. of Smokehouse and Honeycrisp apples for applesauce.) It wasn't hard to pick a lot really quickly, as the tomatoes were gigantic! My husband was a sweetie and helped me scald and skin the tomatoes which is half the battle. Then, yesterday I canned 9 quarts of salsa. And that's only half of the tomatoes. Whew!

When I make salsa it's quite the ordeal, mainly because I don't have a big enough pot for the whole batch. A little frustrating! So, my entire stove top was taken up with my largest pot, two medium pots and the large pressure cooker I use for a water bath canner. Let's just say that it made for a very hot kitchen!

Here's my recipe for salsa. I love this stuff. You can make it as mild or spicy as you want.

Salsa

40 tomatoes, chunked and skinned (you can blend some up in the food processor too if the tomatoes are really firm)
3-6 onions, chopped (I only use 3)
2-4 large green bell peppers, chopped
5-10 hot peppers, chopped (I used 10 jalapeños with only a dozen seeds. You can adjust what kind and how many peppers and seeds for level of heat. At least I think that's how it works!)
6 Tbsp. salt
4 Tbsp. minced garlic
1 Tbsp. oregano
1 cup vinegar
6 small cans tomato paste
1/4 c. sugar (oops! I totally forgot to add this to my batch...)

Chop the peppers and onions in a food processor, or if you like chunkier salsa, hand chop them. Combine all ingredients in the largest pot you can find (or in my case, many smaller pots). Bring to a simmer and cook for 1 1/2 to 2 hours on very low heat, stirring occasionally as it will scorch easily. Process quarts 20 minutes or pints 10 minutes in a water bath.
Makes about 8 quarts.