With an abundance of cherry tomatoes in my veggie patch there is nothing more daunting than the thought of having to peel them before preserving.
I don’t have the time, energy or patience for that!
However, I do have the desire to preserve and the the need for oodles of canned tomatoes come winter once the season has finished.
Our crop of Black Cherry and Baby Roma tomatoes is in full flight. Having picked 10kg already it didn’t take long for me to master a skin on preserving method!
This recipe has no sugar, it just isn’t required. The vine ripened cherry tomatoes are so beautifully sweet they are perfect. The recipe does include however, vinegar. Either sugar or vinegar is essential for the preserving process, but you can’t get away with having none at all.
Savoury ‘salsa’ as I call it is, is merely canned tomatoes with a bit of extra love. After all, if you are bothering to cook and bottle, throwing in extra flavours make for cooking preparation ease come winter when I’ll be popping off the seal. This recipe contains onions, jalapenos and some fresh herbs too – all seasonal right now.
TIP: Don’t just follow this recipe, adapt your own tomato masterpiece depending on what is available to you seasonally. I’ve also made these preserved tomatoes with garlic, capsicum and courgette. Most delicious!
How to use savoury tomato salsa?
It has a lovely texture – you can see the vegetables, the skin is blended in with the rest, but it isn’t pureed down to a sauce. This slightly chunky method means it can be adapted to suit a range of meal ideas (as you would with tinned whole tomatoes, but with heaps more flavour): vegetarian lasagne, casseroles, soups or spoon over baked potatoes, a starter for a curry base, a topper for a pizza….you get the picture, the uses are endless.
The recipe has oodles of cherry tomatoes, as per my aim. However, you can easily halve the recipe if your tomato excess isn’t so extreme! This recipe made 3 x litres in my old Agee jars (with the gold Perfit screw bands).
Savoury Skin-On Tomato Salsa
Ingredients
- 3kg cherry tomatoes
- 6 onions
- 5 jalapeno peppers
- 2 Tbsp salt
- 2 cups malt vinegar
- handful of fresh herbs
Method
- Wash and halve cherry tomatoes and weigh.
- Peel and finely dice onions.
- Scoop out the seeds of your jalapeno peppers and finely chop.
- Throw everything together in a big saucepan (or two medium sized saucepans), along with salt and vinegar and bring to a simmer, covered.
- Once simmering set your timer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. The tomatoes should reduce by a few inches up the side of the pan. If you desire a thicker consistency, simmer for another 10 minutes or until you are happy!
- Scoop out cups of salsa and blitz in a food processor, returning it to the main pan once complete. You decide how chunky or smooth you wish you salsa to be.
- Prepare your jars for sterilising and can while hot!
