Oven Roasted Salsa

 I love roasted veggies.   I think it brings such a rich flavor into them.    This salsa has a little kick to it.  I consider it medium-low heat.   You can add more jalapeño peppers to make it spicer or omit them if you want no spice.    This salsa recipe is thicker salsa.  If you prefer it thinner use regular tomatoes instead of Roma tomatoes.  The recipe isn't hard, but it is a little time consuming.   

OVEN ROASTED SALSA

(approx: 18 pints)

Ingredients:

*1/8 cup olive oil

*1/2 bushel roma tomatoes

*2 yellow onions

*1 large red onion

*3 green bell peppers

*1 red bell pepper

*1 yellow bell pepper

*2-4 jalapeño peppers (I use 2)

*2-3 poblano peppers (I use 3)

*4-5 banana peppers (I use 4)

*2 garlic medium garlic bulbs

*1 cup cilantro, chopped

*1 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

*1 (16 ounce) can tomato sauce

*1 (12 ounce) can tomato paste (if you like a runny salsa, skip this)

*4 teaspoons cumin

*3 tablespoons pickling salt or kosher salt (I use kosher salt)

*1 tablespoon granulated sugar (optional)

Directions:

~Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

~Rinse tomatoes and peppers.

~Place peppers in a large bowl and drizzle some olive oil over them.

~Rub olive oil all over the peppers.

~Place peppers onto a couple baking sheets.

~Cut off 1/4-1/2 inch from the top of the cloves to expose individual garlic cloves.

~Drizzle olive oil on exposed garlic.

~Wrap with aluminum foil.

~Place on baking sheet with peppers.

~Peel onions and cut in half.

~Dizzle with olive oil and place on baking sheets with peppers.

~Bake for 20 minutes

~Flip peppers and onions and bake for another 20 minutes (bananas peppers might be done and won't need the extra 20 minutes.

~Remove from oven.  Place peppers and onions in a large bowl or pot and cover for one hour (I use plastic wrap).

~Cut Roma tomatoes in half and place into a large bowl or pot.

~Drizzle with olive oil and rub all over tomatoes.

~Place tomatoes cut side up on baking sheets (I could only fit half of the tomatoes on my baking sheets, so I had to do this step twice).

~Sprinkle a little bit of kosher salt over tops of tomatoes.

~Bake for 30-45 minutes (30 minutes if the tomatoes are on the small side.  45 If they are larger).

~Place tomatoes into a large bowl or pot and cover for one hour.

~Remove roasted garlic from aluminum foil and squeeze garlic into a roasting pan (or use a large stock pot).  It will seem like aa lot of garlic, but trust me you want it.

~Cut off the tops of the roasted peppers and remove the seeds (don't worry about getting them all).

~Peel the skin away from the peppers and remove most of the seeds (if you want it spicy, leave the seeds from the jalapeño peppers.

~Do a rough chop of the peppers and put in roasting pan.

~Do a rough chop of the roasted onions and put in roasting pan.

~Using an immersible blender (or food processor) blend the roasted ingredients together.   Blend until veggies are very small and mixed together (It will not look pretty at this time.

~Remove tops of tomatoes and skin.

~Do a rough chop and put in roasting pan.

~Add salt, pepper, sugar and cumin,

~Using the immersion blender or food processor blend tomatoes into veggie mixture.  Blend until tomatoes are vey small.

~Mix in chopped cilantro, tomato paste and tomato sauce until well mixed.

~Cook in roaster or large stock pot on medium/low for 40-60 minutes, stirring once in a while.

~Pour hot salsa int clean hot canning jars.

~Make sure tops of jars are free from any residue.

~Place lids and rings on jars

~Turn lids to finger tight.

~Place in hot water bath for 20 minutes. 

~Remove from batch, and allow to set for 24 hours before storing.

~If there is a bubble in the lid, it means it didn't seal right.  Remove ring and lid and wipe top off again and put lid and ring back on.  Do the bath all over again.  

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