Red Pepper Relish

It's the beginning of September when the harvest is really coming in.  This is one of our family favorites.  I used to serve it over a block of cream cheese with Triscuits for a snack or as an appetizer at family gatherings.  One year, I gifted small jelly jars of this with homemade cheddar cheese crackers as teacher gifts.  Enjoy!

Red Pepper Relish

printable recipe

Ingredients:

7 cups finely chopped sweet red peppers (14 - 16 medium)

6 cups sugar

2 Tablespoons salt

1 quart vinegar

Combine peppers and salt; let stand 3 to 4 hours.  Add sugar

and vinegar; cook, stirring frequently, until thick, about

45 minutes.  Pour hot into hot half-pint jars leaving ¼ inch

head space. Adjust caps. Process 10 minutes in boiling water bath.  

Yield: about 6 half-pints

Helpful tips:

Processing:  Wash jars and place in canning pot while bringing

water to a boil.  Allow jars to boil about 5 minutes to sterilize them.

Remove jars, wipe rims dry and fill with hot relish.  Place disks on

jars and tighten lids. Place in rack in canning pot and time them

once water comes back to a boil.  Remove and set on a towel when processing is finished. Let cool overnight then check seals. Loosen

the rings on the jars for storage.

Preparation: Peppers can be chopped by hand, in food processor

or in a meat grinder.   If you would like a spicy version, you can add

some crushed red peppers flakes or mince some fresh red jalapeño

in with the bell pepper.