Homemade tomato salsa is very easy to prepare and superior to the taste of most commercially made salsas. Serve it to accompany various Tex-Mex dishes, like stuffed tortillas, or as a dipping sauce for tortilla chips, etc.

Adjust the spiciness by increasing or reducing the amount of chilli peppers and/or cayenne pepper to suit your taste.

about 600 g chopped peeled, deseeded tomatoes
1 large red bell pepper
(1 green bell pepper)
about 100 g onion
1 - 2 medium red or green chilli peppers (hot or mild)
pinch of cayenne pepper
pinch of paprika powder
pinch of soft brown sugar

See the instructions for peeling and deseeding the tomatoes here, then roughly chop the pulp.

Cut the bell and chilli peppers into small pieces, removing the seeds. I usually remove the peel as well before chopping the peppers by using a sharp vegetable peeler. Use thin protective gloves if you are using very hot chilli peppers. Chop the onion as finely as you like.

Place the chopped vegetables and the spices in a large saucepan and bring the mixture to the boil. Lower the heat, cover the pan and let the mixture simmer until it has cooked down into a chunky sauce (see the pictures below). Stir the mixture every now and then to prevent it from burning on the bottom of the pan.

Salsa ingredients in saucepan		Cooked salsa

Add some more spices and/or sugar if needed. Pour the hot sauce in hot jars sterilized with boiling water (see the picture on right). Close with sterilized lids and let cool. Store the salsa jars in refrigerator.

If you prefer a considerably smoother salsa, you may puree it by using a food mill or pushing it through a sieve. In that case, you do not necessarily have to peel and deseed the tomatoes, as the skins and tougher bits will be left behind in the mill.

Recipe source: family recipe.