The crazy gardening season of 2022 left me still dealing with the slowly ripening late tomatoes through November, and right into December, upsetting my holiday baking schedule.
I already had some excellent salsa recipes that allow canning, but was looking for quick and easy ways to get this bounty processed. Fermentation was recommended by my friend Shauna while we were discussing fermentation methods. The original appeal of this recipe was its ease given that there is no cooking required.
The Garden Salsa peppers I used seem to be less spicy than in previous years, and it may be time for new seeds, but the flavour of the salsa is excellent.
The salsa is amazing and reminds me of a salsa that my mom used to travel across the Canada/US border to buy in Blaine, Washington.
The fermentation really makes the onions pop in the salsa, generating additional spicy heat. This is a sauce that really shows off the flavour of the ingredients. It takes 2 days for this to reach optimal flavour, but it’s well worth the wait.
Already a favourite in this house.
Ingredients
- 2 lbs cherry or grape tomatoes chopped
- I garlic bulb minced 3” bulb
- 1 hot pepper My preference is a “Salsa Pepper” a variety bred specifically for this purpose
- 2 ounces minced cilantro approximately 1 cup if roughly chopped for measuring before being minced
- 12 oz red onion chopped
- 2 juice of limes
- 1 TB Kosher sal Diamond is a highly recommended brand
Instructions
- Because texture plays such an important role in a recipe of this nature, I highly recommend varying the size of the components in this.You should mince the garlic finely for distribution through the dish, given it's power.The tomatoes, onions, and cilantro should all be both chopped and minced. I like to have half of each finely minuced and half roughly chopped.
- Once all ingredients are prepared, put them together in a container for fermenting.Because this is only a two day ferment, I recommend using a fermenting lid. For longer ferments, vacuum sealing is an excellent option.
- I like to layer the ingredients simply for visual reasons while the ferment is happening.
- Keep the jar on a shelf away from sunlight. After two days, put it in the refrigerator.
- In theory, this will last a couple of months, but as the fermentation continues, albeit slowly, it is less appealing (at least in our household) after a week or 10 days. At this point, we add it to a pizza or pasta sauce.
