Best Salsa Recipe Ever

Seriously, it is. It's the perfect amount of sweet and heat.

I'm not going to bore you with the details, since you came here for the recipe, not a story or a million pictures.  I will give credit where it's due however.  I got this recipe from my husband's aunt, Becky.


Best Salsa Ever

It's a major time-saver to use a food processor for this part if you have one:

12 cups chopped roma tomatoes - packed (homegrown is best if possible)
3 cups finely chopped celery
3 lbs. finely chopped onions
750ml jar of hot banana peppers - drained & chopped finely
8-10 large cloves of garlic, minced or chopped finely
2 large green peppers - chopped finely
1 large red pepper - chopped finely
1 large yellow pepper - chopped finely

Put all the chopped vegetables in a very large bowl or bucket and sprinkle with 1/4 cup coarse pickling salt, stir to distribute evenly.  Let sit out on your counter, covered, for 5-6 hours.  Drain well. Put vegetables into a large stock pot and add:

1 cup natural vinegar (Superstore)
3/4 cup white sugar

Bring to a boil over low heat. Let simmer 45 minutes - 1.5 hours or until onions are translucent. Add 1 large can of Hunt's tomato paste (13 fl. oz or 369 ml) 1/2 hour before it's finished. Seal in hot sterile jars and process as usual. Makes approximately 9 - 500 ml jars.

Here's the bonus.  When you drain the liquid from your vegetables, just strain it into a large pot, bring to a rolling boil, and then freeze in freezer bags once it has cooled.  The vegetable juice is already perfectly seasoned, spicy and flavourful, and makes the best seasoned rice you will ever eat.  Put about 1 cup of vegetable stock per cup of rice and top up with water to the full amount of liquid needed to cook the rice.