This is a recipe for hot salsa that I have been working on for the past two or three years at one time or another. IMO, the best base is one made either with truly fresh tomatoes or canned fresh tomatoes (like out of a Ball or Kerr canning jar). I have made this recipe with canned crushed tomatoes from a store (like a 28oz can of Hunts), but it doesn't have the smooth (albeit hot) flavor that I get with fresh/canned fresh tomatoes.
Ingredients
- Fresh tomatoes, peeled and crushed, measuring 1 quart when crushed and cooked or...
- 28 oz can whole tomatoes, crushed
- 2T minced fresh hot peppers* **
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 4T white vinegar
- 1T Lime juice
- 1 1/3T minced cilantro
- 1/4 cup minced white onion
- 2t salt if using fresh tomatoes
- 1t salt if using canned tomatoes
Mix all the ingredients in a sauce pan, cover, and simmer for one half hour. You can either can your salsa in your favorite canning jar or you can serve it fresh. I like to use tortilla chips with as little sauce as possible on them because, then, the flavor of the salsa will stand out. The result is a nice flavored salsa with a hot mariachi band that will sneak up on you :-)
*When I last made this recipe, I made several quarts for canning and used several pepper varieties of fresh peppers I used 2 jalapenos, 1 sarrano, 1 cayenne, and one habanero. That was enough for approximately 10-15 pints of salsa. The measurement above is the approximate amount I needed to make 1 quart of salsa.
**Three diced peppers grown in my garden, which are typically smaller than the type grown for farmer's markets and grocery stores, give me my desired yield. Using two jalapenos and one habanero yield a nice, hot salsa.