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Spicy Zucchini Salsa

Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 1 hour
Resting Time 10 hours
Total Time 12 hours
Servings 9 pint jars
Author Margaret Bose Johnson

Ingredients

day 1:

  • 12 cups (1.65kg/3lbs+10oz) finely chopped zucchini, unpeeled (easily done in the food processor)
  • 4 medium onions
  • 2 large green bell peppers
  • 2 large red bell peppers
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • ¼ cup (4 tablespoons) pickling salt

day 2:

  • 6 cups (1.5kg/3¼lbs) chopped, peeled tomatoes (*see how below)
  • 2 cans (156ml/5.5oz each) tomato paste
  • 2 tablespoons hot red pepper flakes/chili flakes/crushed red pepper
  • 2 tablespoons sweet paprika
  • 1 tablespoon pickling salt or pure sea salt
  • 1 tablespoon garlic powder
  • 1 tablespoon ground cumin
  • 1 tablespoon ground coriander
  • 1 tablespoon dry mustard powder
  • 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons (30ml) honey or 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 cup (240ml) white vinegar
  • 1 cup (240ml) lime juice, fresh or bottled about 8 juicy limes

Instructions

day 1:

  • The food processor works best for chopping the zucchini finely. Just make sure not to process so long that it turns to mush! Process the zucchini in 3 or 4 batches. Dump the chopped zucchini into a LARGE plastic, glass, or enamel bowl or pot. (Warning - I have had a salt solution eat a small hole into a stainless steel bowl, so I wouldn't recommend using that.)
  • After chopping the zucchini, don't wash the food processor canister, but chop two of the onions in it. Dice the remaining two onions finely by hand, and add all the onions to the zucchini bowl.
  • Then cut an inch (2.5cm) from the bottom and top of each bell pepper. Remove the cores and seeds. Finely chop the tops and bottoms of the bell peppers in the food processor. Cut the walls of the peppers into ¼ inch (.5cm) wide strips, then cut the strips crosswise to form ¼ inch dice. Add all the chopped and diced peppers to the zucchini.
  • Add the minced garlic and the ¼ cup pickling salt to the the zucchini, and stir until the salt and vegetables are well mixed. Cover the bowl loosely with a clean tea towel, and let sit on the counter overnight (8 - 12 hours) so the salt can extract all the excess juices out of the vegetables.

day 2:

  • The next day, drain the vegetables through a large colander or strainer. Rinse the bowl and return the vegetables to the bowl. Cover with cold water, stir, then drain again. Place the colander with the draining vegetables over a bowl, and leave to drain for ½ hour. Discard the draining liquid.
  • While the vegetables are draining, prepare the tomatoes. If you don't mind the little flecks of curled tomato peel, you can just core and chop the tomatoes. I prefer them peeled - it's a little more work but you get a smoother salsa. The choice is up to you.
  • *To peel the tomatoes, cut a small 'x' through the skin on the bottom of each tomato, then drop them into a pot of boiling water, in batches. After 1 minute, remove the tomatoes from the boiling water with a slotted spoon and place them immediately into a bowl of ice water. The peels will come off easily. Dice the tomatoes into ½ inch chunks.
  • Place the chopped tomatoes and all the remaining ingredients into a large heavy-bottomed stockpot. Add the drained vegetables.
  • Bring to a full boil (one you can't stir down), then reduce the heat to medium and cook the mixture, uncovered, for 15 minutes, stirring often.
  • Ladle the hot zucchini salsa into sterilized pint canning jars. Wipe the rims with a clean cloth, top with the hot, sterilized snap lids, screw on the lid rings so they are only finger tight.
  • Then process the jars in a water bath for 15 minutes.

How to Process the Jars:

  • Set the jars into a canner with a rack or into a large stock pot with a clean dishcloth in the bottom. Put in only as many as will fit easily. You may need to do several batches. Pour hot water into the pot until it comes just up to the bottom of the screw rings on the jars. Bring to a boil. Cover the pot, and turn the heat down a bit so the jars continue to boil vigourously but don't boil over. Boil them for 15 minutes. Then remove the jars with canning tongs and set them onto a towel on the counter. Don't disturb them until they are completely cool. Check the seals: if the jar lids have been sucked down so they don't move when you press a finger into the center of them, the jars are sealed. If the lids are still slightly bulged upward and you can move them up and down when you press with a finger, they didn't seal and should be stored in the fridge to use up within the next month or two.
  • Tighten the rings on the sealed jars and store them in a cool dark place for several years.
  • Makes 9 or 10 pints.

Notes

Use fresh lime juice if you have it, but if not, the bottled lime juice made from concentrate works just as well. In a pinch, you can substitute the lime juice with lemon juice or 1 additional cup white vinegar.
This is a thick chunky salsa. If you'd like it more runny: after cooking, thin it with tomato juice or water to the consistency you'd like, then cook a few more minutes.
Let the chopped vegetables soak in salt overnight so the excess moisture is drawn out. Overnight usually means 8 - 12 hours, though I've had it sit for 18 hours before I got to finishing it, and the salsa still turned out great.
*Note: This recipe produces a medium spicy salsa with a good burn. For a mild salsa, use half the amounts of red pepper flakes, dry mustard, and black pepper. For a hotter salsa, increase the chili flakes or add a handful of chopped jalapeño peppers along with the bell peppers.