Preserving Bruschetta

As I was getting my tomatoes ready to preserve tomato sauce, I realized that a fair number of them weren't ripe yet.  I set the unripened tomatoes aside and decided that I would find another recipe to use them in later.

It didn't take long for me to find this Bruschetta in a Jar recipe.  I pinned it on my Pinterest account and by some magical online word-of-mouth Pinterest process, 43 people ended up repinning it!  Guess I'm not the only one who thought preserving bruschetta mix sounded like a good idea!

Bruschetta in a Jar

Adapted from Ball’s Bruschetta in a Jar recipe

Makes: 6 half pints

Ingredients:

• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1/2 cup white wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 1/4 cups water
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 2 Tbsp dried oregano
• 2 Tbsp dried basil
• 2 Tbsp dried parsley
• 1 Tbsp rosemary
• 1 Tbsp salt
• 7-8 cups diced tomatoes

Directions:

1. Heat water to simmering in your boiling water canner (or any pot large enough to place the jars in the canner and have the water 1-2 inches above the tops of the jars). Get your lids simmering in a small pot, and set the bands aside.
2. Pour hot water into your clean jars and let them sit until you’re ready to add the tomatoes.
3. Mix the garlic, wine, vinegars, water, seasonings and salt in a saucepan and bring it to a boil.
4. Reduce heat and let it simmer for 5 minutes or until all the flavors are combined.
5. Pour the water out of the jars, and fill with your diced tomatoes, leaving a 1/2 inch headspace.
6. Spoon the hot vinegar mixture over the tomatoes, leaving a 1/2 inch headspace. Remove any air bubbles, wipe the rim, put the lid on and twist the band on.
7. Place in canner and make sure the water is 1-2 inches above the tops of the jars.
8. Process for 20 minutes. Remove from the canner and let cool.

Verdict: It's really nice having these on hand -- I've already taken some to a friend's potluck.  Everyone seemed to like it.  Personally, I found the flavour of vinegar to be a bit strong.  Giz made the same recipe, but forgot the balsamic vinegar.  She doesn't find hers to be too vinegary.  So, maybe I'll limit it to white wine vinegar next time.  That will also cut back a bit on the sweetness from the balsamic vinegar.  Plus, I'm kind of skeptical that the original recipe includes balsamic vinegar because it looks way too clear.