Bruschetta in a Jar

This recipe makes about 7 cups, so prepare seven 250 ml mason jars or four 500 ml jars for canning. If one jar isn’t full enough to can, refrigerate and enjoy. For detailed instructions on water bath canning and preparing jars, click here.  

Wash, seed and chop tomatoes into 1/2 inch (1cm) pieces. The tomatoes are not peeled to help them hold their shape. Measure 9 cups (2250 ml), into a large bowl.  Add chopped garlic, stir to combine. If you have a lot of liquid in the bowl, strain that off before adding tomatoes to the jar.  

Combine white wine, wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar, water, sugar, basil and oregano in a deep stainless steel saucepan. Bring to a full boil; reduce heat. Stirring occasionally, boil gently, covered, 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

Pack tomatoes into a hot jar to within 3/4 inch (2 cm) of top rim. Add hot liquid to cover tomatoes to within 1/2 inch (1 cm) of top rim (headspace). Try to evenly distribute the herbs between the jars. Using a nonmetallic utensil, (even a chopstick works well) remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if required, by adding more tomatoes and hot liquid. If there’s brine left over after filling jars, strain through a fine mesh strainer and divide remaining herbs between jars.  Discard extra brine. Wipe jar rim removing any food residue. Centre hot sealing disc on clean jar rim. Screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip tight. Return filled jar to rack in canner. Repeat for remaining tomatoes and hot liquid.

When canner is filled, ensure that all jars are covered by at least one inch (2.5 cm) of water. Cover canner and bring water to a full rolling boil before starting to count processing time. Process for 20 minutes.  

When the processing time is complete, remove the canner lid, wait 5 minutes, then remove jars without tilting and place them upright on a protected work surface. Cool upright, undisturbed 24 hours; DO NOT RETIGHTEN screw bands.