Roasted Tomato & Green Chile Salsa

Roasted Tomato & Chile Salsa

Ingredients: 
2 pounds Roma tomatoes
1 medium onion
2 Anaheim peppers* you can use 2 jalapenos 
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 Cup Cilantro, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 Cup fresh lime juice (about 6 limes) 

Yield: approx. 6 half-pints 

Directions: 
    Preheat oven to 450F. 

• Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or nonstick foil. 
• Wash the peppers;  De-stem and de-seed the peppers, cut in half and lay flat side down on one of the baking sheets.  *wear gloves when handling spicy peppers. 
• Wash and core tomatoes, slice onion.  Cut the tomatoes in half lengthwise and lay on on half of second baking sheet.  Cut onion into slices and place on other half of baking sheet. 
• Place both baking sheets into oven and roast in your oven for 40-60 minutes until the peppers are charred and blistered all over.  Remove from oven and place in a large bowl, cover with saran and let sit for about 20 minutes so the steam can help the peppers release their skins.  You want your tomato skins and onion slices to be roasted but, not burnt.  Let your tomatoes cool before handling to slip their skins off after being roasted.  
• Once the peppers are cooled, put your gloves back on and remove any skin/peel remaining on the pepper.  
• Once all peppers and tomatoes have their skins removed. Chop all, along with the onion slices; into a dice. 
• Place all vegetables into a large pot on your stovetop.  Bring everything to a boil, then lower to a simmer. 
• Add your spices and lime juice and let the entire mixture cook for 5 minutes.
• Ladle hot salsa into hot jars leaving 1/2" headspace.  Remove Air Bubbles. 
• Process jars in a water-bath or steam canner for 20 minutes, adjusting for your altitude. 

**photo note: I oven roasted some red bell peppers I had on hand - its a great way to prep those for later use too - if you ever see red bells on sale - buy them and roast them!!  they are great in so many dishes!  I cut and pack my finished red pepper strips into a half pint canning jar and top off with olive oil and store in fridge. 

Recipe Adapted from: Ball's All New Book of Canning "Salsa Ranchera"