OLE!
Today I picked fresh tomatoes from the garden (Romas, Golden Girls, & a few Brandywines) - along with some jalapenos and cilantro. Romas work well (meatier, with fewer seeds) but you need to use more to compensate, as they are smaller. I used a sweet Vidalia onion I had on-hand, but I've also made this with red onion, too. The sugar and lime juice give this a nice swee-tart "follow-through."
The recipe below makes about 4 cups prepared salsa. It's really more of a Pico de gallo because it is not cooked but instead has sparkle-y fresh flavor.
Ingredients:
8 medium-large tomatoes - peeled* & seeded
2 - 3 fresh jalapeño peppers - (remove seeds & membranes for a milder salsa)
1/2 cup chopped sweet yellow banana pepper -about 1 large
---(or regular green pepper can be used instead, if desired)
1 cup finely chopped onion
2 tsp. chopped garlic
1 tablespoon fresh chopped cilantro leaves (more or less to taste)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1 Tablespoon sugar
Juice of 1/2 lime
Coursely chop tomatoes & place in large mixing bowl. Drain juice & set aside for other recipes.
Mix all the other ingredients - EXCEPT lime juice - into bowl. Spoon small batches of mixture into food processer (do 1 cup at a time) & pulse until blended but still chunky.
Pour each batch into a separate large measuring bowl when complete.
If there is a lot of excess juice, strain some out & add to original saved juice.
For the final step, mix in the lime juice.
Ladle into pint jars or plastic freezer containers. Freeze for up to 4 months.
Stores fresh in refrigerator for 2 - 3 weeks. When using frozen salsa, thaw in the refrigerator and strain any excess liquid before serving.
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* To easily peel a tomato: submerge in boiling water for one minute - remove and plunge into ice water for at least 30 second. The skin should slide right off.
