GREEN TOMATO PICKLE RELISH

A wonderful gardener recently gave me a huge pan of green tomatoes and I instantly knew I wanted to make this relish. The recipe calls for simple pantry ingredients and it makes 9 cups of yummy relish, a wonderful addition to my pantry, thank you Bonnie!!

 

10 large, or 20 small GREEN tomatoes
4 red or orange bell peppers
1 large sweet onion
1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons yellow mustard seed
1 tablespoon celery seed
2 cups apple cider vinegar
2 cups granulated sugar
1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons kosher salt

TO PREPARE VEGETABLES:

Core the green tomatoes and cut into medium size chunks, about this big:

 

Put them in a food processor, in small batches, and pulse until they are about this size (don't over-pulse):

Do the same with the onion and bell peppers.

Put EVERYTHING into a large, non-reactive stock pot that has a heavy bottom (I use the bottom part of my pressure cooker) and gently toss together.

Bring the mixture to a boil and then turn the heat down to a slow simmer (see note below). 

Simmer UNCOVERED for two hours. I know that sounds like a LONG time, and the first time I tried this recipe, I was convinced that the veggies would cook away to nothing, but they don't.......trust me. Just gently stir about every 15 minutes. The vegetables will cook down and thicken into a wonderful relish.

Put relish into sterilized jars and process in a hot water bath (15 minutes for half pints and pints).

TIPS:

Original recipe called for half green bell peppers and half red bell peppers, but we don't care for the taste of green ones, so I modified the recipe and use all red and orange bell peppers.

Don't overload your food processor when you chop the vegetables. If you only load it with 2 or 3 cups at a time, you will get a nice fine chop without it turning to mush.

Recipe says to "slow simmer for 2 hours"......so, what is a slow simmer? My electric burner dial goes from 1 to 10, and a slow simmer on my stove is a 2.  Basically, you want it to simmer at the same heat you would use when you make rice....slow and steady.

Recipe calls for Kosher salt, I have never tried this recipe with table salt.

 ENJOY !!!