Forgot to mention - if I do this, it will probably be in a pressure canner.

No, sorry, though it does sound like a great recipe. Except for the tomato paste and lemon juice, everything is low-acid. It's also extremely dense, which leads to heat penetration issues. Additionally, you have oil, which should not be used in home-canned recipes, with the exception of a few tested options. Unfortunately, pesto isn't one of them.

Carol

Sorry, this is a cooking recipe, not a canning recipe.
The Ball Blue Book has a great roasted red pepper spread that is really good and safe for canning.

Oh, bother. Well, it was worth a shot!

Thanks, readinglady and linda_lou :) I should shortly have a copy of the Ball book, so I'll look into that recipe.

Roasted Red Pepper Spread
(from Ball Blue Book)

Makes about 5 half-pints

6# sweet red peppers (about 8 large)
1# roma tomatoes (about 10 medium)
2 large cloves garlic
1 small white onion
2 tablespoons minced basil
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 cup red wine vinegar

Roast peppers under a broiler or on a grill at 425 F degrees until skin wrinkles and chars in spots. Turn peppers over and roast opposite side. Remove peppers from heat. Place in a paper bag, secure opening, cool 15 minutes. Roast tomatoes, garlic and onion under a boiler or on a grill 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from heat. Place tomatoes in a paper bag, secure opening, cool 15 minutes. Peel garlic and onion. Finely mince garlic, set aside. Finely mince onion, measure 1/4 cup, set aside. Peel and seed red peppers and tomatoes. Puree in a food processor or blender. Combine all ingredients in a large saucepot. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring to prevent stickeing. Reduce heat, simmer until spread thickens. Ladle hot spread into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Adjust 2 piece caps. Process 10 minutes in a boiling water canner.

I've made roasted red pepper spread here several times now. I also add roasted garlic, roasted onions, and use Balsamic vinegar. No oil is added though. Its really great on crusty bread. I also plan to use in for a pasta sauce instead of all tomatoes. The best red peppers I found are the pimento types. These are very thick walled meaty peppers and roast up very well. The roasting was done on my gas grill with some mesquite wood chunks to add some additional flavor.

"Makes about 2 cups. Whatever you don't use immediately may be frozen for later"

why not just freeze it? Make as much as you want, put it in freeze/can jars -- the ones with straight sides and the wide mouths -- (or the new Ball plastic freezer jars.

Prepare as usual, spoon into sterile jars, leave 1/2" headspace, put lid on, cool and freeze.

Because, as she said in the post, she is very short on freezer room.

falsdawn, do try the roasted red pepper spread --- it's very yummy, very red pepper-y. Maybe that way you can freeze smaller amounts of a basil-only pesto, take not as much room in the freezer, and spread a bit of each on things! ;-)

Zabby,
who had to buy an upright freezer after a few years on this forum --- I feel your pain! ;-)

oh yeah....I missed that.
I do not know how we ever got along without a separate freezer... spoiled now!!
Kay

If you lack freezer space and have enough room to have a 3 foot square deep freezer (chest type), they take little room and will offer you plenty of space for most frozen foods. I used to have one in my apartment, but now have 20 Cu. Ft. upright (very new, incidentally).

I think that BBB recipe is going to prove very helpful to me for future pepper sauce recipes. The 6/1 pepper/tomato ratio and small (to me) amt of venegar is going to make it very adaptable. When I first read the recipe I thought no way could be BWBd and only 10 min at that.

So much to learn & thanks for the thread!

JohnT

I'm wondering if the red wine vinegar is a factor. I'm not sure it's consistent, but most of the RWV I've seen ranges around 7% acidity.

Carol

Hello,

I don't post here much...busy, busy. Just wanted to say I made this today and it is delicious! I used pimento peppers and giant marconi's. I also used pomegranate vinegar instead of red wine. It's very tasty. Now, I'm hoping I get enough red peppers to make another batch before a frost.

Happy harvest!

It will be getting quite cool here in Z6, and there is supposed to be a 38 degree night sometime soon. Even for that, you can pick partially ripened peppers that just have a slight red blush and these will still turn all red indoors. I have a few right now doing that, and theres maybe a bushel left outside, which are still green. When picked, they either spoil or ripen, and your usually going to see the changes in just a few days, so keep an eye on them.

Hi Ken,

I've noticed that peppers will continue to ripen after they're picked. Last year I cut entire plants at the base and hung them upside down in the basement. I was amazed that most of them turned red in a few days.

We've had no fall this year...it was 89 Monday and today never got over 62...weird weather...

> I'm wondering if the red wine vinegar is a factor. I'm not sure it's consistent, but most of the RWV I've seen ranges around 7% acidity.

Carol,

Just from my fridge... Heinz RWV 5% & Reese RWV 5%.

> Last year I cut entire plants at the base and hung them upside down in the basement.

aka peggy,

I've known several people that make a practice of doing just that & they swear by it. Another couple pod-heads dig up entire plant including a small amt of root ball and throw into 5 gal bucket with no intention of overwintering even though they water for awhile.

jt

And just making sure here (abt the BBB recipe)

A small white onion would be 4-6oz?
And for pint jars and smaller only?

JohnT

Thanks, John. That explains it. I've not been using those brands, so apparently it depends upon the maker. (In fact, now that I think of it, I don't remember ever seeing a Heinz or Reese RWV here. Heinz distilled and cider, but nothing else.)

Carol