Canning Zucchini Tomato Salsa

So our garden has been planted for quite some time now and it is looking PURTY!  I just bought some zucchini, squash, and cucumber plants as the seeds we planted just did not sprout this year.  :-(

Anywhoo-It got me to thinking that it would be nice to post a canning recipe here that I can't wait to try this summer.  Last year I attempted a salsa recipe from Ball but even though family and friends raved about it and wanted more, my husband and I just did not like it.  It was too hot and too vinegary (I know, not a word).  So this recipe sounds very appealing but I think I might experiment a bit on the vinegar.  We LOVE Salsa and we love zucchini and I thought since we usually have LOTs of tomatoes and zuchinni planted (usually WAY more than what we know what to do with it.) this will be the perfect recipe!

Just a little note for ya'll:  I would love to see what canning recipes you might have also.  So here it is:


Photo by Calee
ZUCCHINI – TOMATO SALSA


10 cups zucchini
3 cups onions
3 1/2 cups total of red and green peppers
1 to 3 jalapeno peppers (to taste)
***please wear gloves when working with hot peppers, speaking from experience, you do not want to feel the burn from the oils in the seeds and membranes!!!***
5 tbsp pickling salt (not table salt)
1 tsp garlic powder (I'm going to use fresh garlic)
1 tsp ground cumin
1 cup brown sugar (I may use xylitol or agave nectar to make it lower glycemic)
2 tins tomato paste (5.5 oz each, used as a thickener)
2 tsp dry mustard
2 cups vinegar
1 tbsp Sambal or crushed chili pepper (to taste)
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp nutmeg
8 cups tomatoes peeled, chopped, drained

Finely chop zucchini, onions, and peppers in a food processor. Transfer to a large bowl and mix together with pickling salt. The salt helps to draw out a lot of the liquid from the vegetables, otherwise your salsa will be very soupy. Let stand overnight.

In the morning rinse the mixture and drain well. To do this, line a strainer with an old tea towel or a couple of layers of cheesecloth. Add some of the mixture and then run water over it to help rinse out the salt. Gather up the edges of the cloth and wring out as much moisture as you can and then transfer to another container. Continue in batches until all of it has been rinsed.

Put the mixture into a large pot and add the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Stir often to prevent sticking and scorching on the bottom of the pan.

The next step is canning. I do mine in a boiling water canner. Pour the salsa into sterilized jars, seal, and process for 30 minutes. Remove from the canner and place on a towel to drain. I like to wrap another towel around the jars to keep them warm. Listen for the music to a canner's ears. That little pop, pop or I like to say PING! that says your jars have sealed. Leave the jars to cool for 24 hours before labeling and moving to storage.  Be sure to set a little off to the side before canning so that you can sample some yourself!  Enjoy!

Comments

Glad to see you posted the recipe for zucchini salsa. Hope it works out for you. I'm interested to know what you think!
Curious if you ever made this. I've been doing research and all the "official" sites say zucchini salsa is not safe to can... But all the non-official sites say they've made it and it's super yummy. I'm trying to decide if I wanna risk botulism just for yummy salsa! LOL

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