Thunder Bay's Guide
to Local Food

Triple R’s Best Salsa

August, Recipes, September

Recipe courtesy of Triple-R

Ingredients

  • 8 lbs ripe Roma tomatoes
  • 1 1/2 cups chopped Anaheim or other zesty sweet pepper (seeds and all!) – takes about 3 peppers
  • 1/2 cup chopped sweet pepper (yellow is great for colour)
  • 1/2 cup seeded and chopped fresh jalapeno peppers, plus 1 whole pepper, chopped with seeds
  • 2 cups chopped onions
  • 1/2 cup snipped fresh cilantro (use the stems too – they’re full of flavour!)
  • 1/2 cup fresh squeezed lime juice
  • 1/2 cup white vinegar
  • 4 oz tomato paste
  • 6 cloves garlic
  • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds, toasted and ground coarsely
  • 1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
  • 3 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 1/2 tablespoon paprika

How-To:

  1. Wash tomatoes and remove stems and cores.  Drop them a few at a time into boiling water for about a minute; watch for the skins to split.  As soon as they do, drop the tomatoes into cold water and slip off the skins.
  2. Chop the tomatoes into salsa-sized chunks – if you like chunkier salsa, cut them larger.  Set them in a colander in your sink for about 30 minutes so the juice can drain out.
  3. Bring the drained tomatoes to a boil in a large pot, and reduce to a simmer for about an hour and a half.  The tomatoes will soften and dissolve a little.  You want it to be about the consistency of a thin marinara sauce, with some chunkiness.
  4. Add all of the other ingredients, return to a boil and then reduce to a simmer for the next 10 minutes.  
  5. Fill sterilized pint jars with your hot salsa; leave a 1/2 inch space at the top.  Wipe the rims clean and secure lids by hand.  
  6. Process your pint jars for 15 minutes.