Garden Salsa

Ingredients

• 9 cups blended tomatoes
• 2 1/2 cups chopped green bell peppers
• 2 1/2 cups chopped white onion
• 4 medium jalapenos, chopped (seed all but one)
• 8 large cloves garlic, chopped
• 6 teaspoons canning salt
• 1 cup white vinegar
• 1 (12 ounce) can tomato paste

Instructions

1. Make the salsa. Place all of the ingredients in a large pot (you will need a 10qt. saucepan for this batch, or split the ingredients among 2 saucepans) and simmer for 20-30 minutes, until thickened and cooked.
2. Prepare cans to be sealed. Ladle the cooked salsa into clean, sterile jars leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Wipe rims of jars with a damp, clean, paper towel, then place lids on top. To make filling easy, I highly recommend a wide funnel designed for canning jars.
3. Process using a water bath. To do this, bring a large saucepan filled with water to a boil. Your saucepan needs to be tall enough to have the water cover the jars by 2 inches- though the jars will displace some of the water as they are added.
4. Add the jars to the water bath and cover with a lid. Process for 30 minutes, then remove. I use these tongs to make things easy.
5. Let the jars sit for 24 hours. The salsa will remain good in the jar for up to 18 months… if you can keep yourself from eating it all before then!