disposable rubber gloves for handling the hot peppers
food processor, mini chopper, or sharp knife but food processor or mini chopper work best
canning jars and lids
Ingredients
1lb(450 gms) finely minced bell peppers, weight after core, membranes, and seeds removed (about 3 large peppers, any colour)you'll need 2 cups, solidly-packed, with juices, after mincing in a food processor
¼cupfinely minced jalapeñoes or other hot peppers with juices, solidly packed (50gms/1¾oz weight after removing stems) - see note belowleave seeds and membranes in for hot jelly (remove them for very mild heat, or remove them from half the peppers for medium heat)
1largeclove garlic, finely minced, grated, or pressed
½teaspoon fine sea salt
2 cups(480ml) white vinegar (5% acidity)or apple cider vinegar
Wash and sterilize 6 half-pint (250ml) canning jars (see instructions here), and keep them hot until you need them. Put the snap lids into a pot of barely simmering water to keep hot. Wash, rinse and drain the jar screw-rings and have them ready.
To finely mince the peppers, a food processor or mini-chopper works best, so you get the juices. It works best to do them in 2 batches, as the peppers will mince more uniformly when using smaller amounts. Remove the stems, seeds, and inner membranes from the bell peppers, cut them into chunks, and then process them until they are finely minced, but not mush, scraping down the sides in between. If there are any larger pieces, it's best to remove them and chop them by hand rather than over-processing the rest to mush. Measure the chopped peppers with their juices, and you should have 2 cups when firmly packed so the measuring cup is solidly filled.Mince the jalapeñoes or hot peppers the same way, or chop them finely by hand. You can remove the seeds and inner membranes for less heat in the jelly, or leave them in for a full heat level. Use rubber gloves when seeding or mincing hot peppers and don't touch your face until your hands are well washed afterward.
Put the chopped peppers, salt, garlic, vinegar, and pectin into a large saucepan (at least 3 quarts/litres, as the jelly will foam up).
Measure out the sugar into a bowl or spouted cup and set it close to the stove.
Bring the pepper mixture to a full rolling boil, stirring occasionally.
Pour in the sugar and bring it back to a full rolling boil that can't be stirred down.
Boil hard for 1 minute.
Remove from the heat and pour the jelly into the hot sterilized jars, stirring it between each jar so the pepper pieces get spread evenly amongst the jars. Wipe the rims of the jars with a clean, damp cloth. Add the hot metal snap lids directly from out of the hot water and screw on the metal screw-bands until finger tight.
Set the jars upside-down (to help distribute the pepper pieces evenly in the jelly) onto a tea towel. After 30 minutes, carefully turn the jars upright and leave them undisturbed until they are cool.Before setting them onto the towel, the jars can be processed in a water bath for 10 minutes for added insurance against spoilage.
The jelly will set fully once the jars are completely cooled. If any jars have not sealed, store the jelly in the refrigerator and use those jars first (they will last for months in the fridge).
Leave the jars for at least a week for the flavours to develop before using them.
Makes 6 half-pint (250ml) jars.
Notes
*Peppers measure differently if they are chopped with the food processor or finely chopped by hand, so it's best to go by weight (after trimming). You will need 500 grams in total weight of peppers, including bell peppers and hot peppers. This is 2¼ cups if chopped by a food processor, but will be more if chopped by hand. I like to chop the bell peppers in the processor, but finely chop the jalapeñoes by hand so you can see the little green flecks and have more of a confetti appearance (but you can just do them all in the processor, too). If chopping the bell peppers by hand, run your knife repeatedly over the pile of chopped peppers until they are minced finely and have released some of their juices, then pack them into the measuring cup firmly.If you don't have fresh jalapeñoes or hot peppers, you can use all bell peppers (total amount - 2¼ cups/500 grams) and add 1 tablespoon of dried red chili flakes instead of the jalapeñoes (use 2 tablespoons chili flakes if you want a fiery, super-hot pepper jelly).Jalapeñoes can vary quite a bit in heat level, so you may want to taste a tiny bit of the peppers to see how hot they are and decide whether to keep the seeds and membranes in the jelly.It is important to use the no-sugar-needed pectin for this recipe: if you use regular pectin, your jelly won't set (as it needs at least 5 cups of sugar to set).Nutrition facts are for 1 whole jar of the jelly. There are 16 tablespoons in a 1-cup/250ml jar, so to find the values for 1 tablespoon, divide the numbers by 16 (~28 calories per tablespoon).