Wednesday, July 12, 2017

Pico de Gallo Salsa


Revised and Updated July 2021

I really love tomato salsas, but I also enjoy Pico de Gallo and make it fresh with local tomatoes every summer. There is nothing better than fresh, local, vine ripe tomatoes you either grow yourself or purchase at a local farm or farmers market. The taste is so unbelievably good, so I highly recommend making this recipe with local fresh tomatoes.


Pico de Gallo is technically a fresh salsa and not one that's traditionally canned. I really wanted to try and make some I could process and keep for many months on my pantry shelf (not that it will last that long), so I started experimenting.


Paste or Roma tomatoes hold up the best in this recipe, and they are not mushy in the finished product. See this link for more awesome salsa recipes.



RECIPE
Ingredients
10 medium to large paste or Roma tomatoes, diced (preferred since they are a meatier tomato, but I've also used homegrown cherry tomatoes)
1 medium onion, diced
2 large jalapeno peppers, seeded and diced
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup **Ball Fiesta Salsa Mix (or any salsa spice mix you like)
3 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp (per pint jar) lemon juice
** If you don't have any salsa mix add 1/2 tbsp each ground cumin, oregano and dried cilantro leaves (or fresh minced cilantro) or slightly more to taste.
May omit cilantro if desired.


Method

Dice tomatoes, onion, and jalapenos, and place in a large bowl. Stir in salsa mix (or spices), salt, and lime juice, mixing well. Let sit 15-30 minutes so tomatoes begin to get juicy.

Using a slotted spoon, scoop the pico de gallo into pint canning jars. Top with 1 tbsp lemon juice concentrate, and evenly distribute the remaining tomato juice from the bowl into each jar leaving 1/2" head-space. Top with lids and rings tightening to just finger tight.

Process jars in a water bath or steam canner 15 minutes.

Remove jars and let cool on a kitchen towel on your counter-top 24 hours undisturbed. Jars are sealed when the button on the lid is fully depressed and won't move up and down.

Store in pantry for up to one year. Open jars must be refrigerated. Serve Pico de Gallo Salsa with your favorite chips or top on tacos, taco salads, and more. It's even awesome stirred into some steamed rice, taco meat for casseroles, and served with your favorite Mexican dishes.

Cooks note - the liquid may be below the top of the pico de gallo in the jars. Once they are processed, this is fine and will not cause the salsa to go bad. I also like to give mine a quick shake before serving.

Yield: 3-pint jars (recipe is easily doubled)

Original recipe adapted from Healthy Canning


Enjoy,

Mary

© Cooking with Mary and Friends. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Cooking with Mary and Friends with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.