Our Favorite Salsa

Directions

1. 1
   Peel tomatoes (dip in boiling water for about 1 minute, then into ice water, then peel); cut out stem and chop. You need to have at least 6 quarts, and a bit more won't hurt. I averaged 7-8 quarts of chopped tomatoes from 20 pounds of whole tomatoes.
2. 2
   I seed and de-vein the bell peppers and 3 of the jalapenos. For the 2 remaining jalapenos, I leave the seeds in. (This year I didn't seed any of the jalapenos, just stemmed and chopped them up, and it's a nice mild-to-medium heat.)
3. 3
   Chop all the veggies (except the tomatoes) in the food processor. Add tomatoes, onions, garlic and peppers to a large stock pot; stir in vinegar and salt. Cover and heat to boiling (this takes a while), then reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 20 minutes. After simmer time is done, stir in tomato paste and cilantro. When I add the tomato paste, I put the paste into a medium bowl, add 2 or so cups of the hot liquid from the salsa and stir it up with a whisk, adding more liquid as needed until it's about the consistency of ketchup, then stir it back into the salsa. It makes incorporating the tomato paste so much easier.
4. 4
   Can as usual in a water bath canner or a steam canner for 20 minutes for quarts or pints. For more info on canning procedures, the Ball Blue Book of Canning is a wonderful resource. You shouldn't can without it.