Family Favorites...Michelle's Salsa

My daughter-in-law Michelle, who’s a great cook, has been canning up a storm from her very nice raised-bed garden.  She made this great salsa last year using a recipe she got from the Pick Your Own website.  She did a great job of getting a nice, thick, tasty homemade salsa.  My husband really loved this!

Michelle’s Salsa
• 3 cups chopped onions 
• 6 jalapeño peppers, seeded, finely chopped 
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped 
• 2 six-ounce cans tomato paste (adds body) 
• 2 cups bottled lemon or lime juice or lemon juice (see this page for an explantion 
• 1 teaspoon black pepper 
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin (optional) 
• 2 tablespoons oregano leaves or chopped cilantro (optional) 
• 15 pounds (before seeding & skins removed) tomatoes (I used mostly small round tomatoes with a few Roma's to equal 15 pounds) 

1. Wash your hands then squeeze each tomato and use your finger or a spoon to scoop and shake out most of the seeds.    Drain and chop the tomatoes, you need about 3 quarts altogether.  Start with the chopped tomatoes in the pot...
2. Add the seasonings and bring to a gentle simmer, just to get it hot (180 F, if you have a thermometer) there's no need to cook it; only to get it hot enough to ready it for water bath processing to kill any bacteria and enzymes.  Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.  
3. Fill jars to within ¼” of top.  Adjust lids and place in a water bath canner, with boiling hot water 1-2” over the tops of the jars.  

Process pint jars for:
 15 minutes at 1000 feet elevation or less
 20 minutes for 1001-6000 feet 
 25 minutes for over 6000 feet elevation.
Comments from Michelle:

• I got 8 pints of salsa with this recipe. 
• I followed the directions for getting the seeds out after I removed the skins. 
• I use the boiling water/shock chill method when skinning my tomatoes.
• Michelle says she used a mixture of large onions and green onions from her garden.

Here is the link to the website:
Pick Your Own Salsa Recipe