Homemade Hot Sauce

From EatingWell: September/October 2008 — Subscribe Now!

This homemade hot sauce makes good use of the bountiful tomatoes, onions and peppers in your garden or farmers' market. Adjust the heat to your preference: in our tests, two habaneros yielded a pleasantly spicy sauce without excessive heat—take it up a notch for spicy-food fans by adding extra hot peppers.

READER'S COMMENT:

"Prepared as directed, the hot sauce was a little too bland for my taste, but it was fun and simple to prepare. Dasher, Covington, KY "

About 2 2/3 cups

Active Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 2 hours (including cooling time)

Nutrition Profile

Ingredients

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup diced onion
2 medium chile peppers, such as poblano, New Mexico or Anaheim, diced
2-4 habanero peppers, or other small hot chile peppers, stemmed, halved and seeded (see Tip)
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound tomatoes, diced (about 3 cups)
1 cup distilled white vinegar
2 teaspoons salt
1-3 teaspoons sugar

Preparation

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion, chile peppers, habaneros to taste and garlic and cook, stirring, until the onion is soft and beginning to brown, 3 to 4 minutes.
Reduce heat to medium. Add tomatoes, vinegar, salt and sugar to taste. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes begin to break down, about 5 minutes.
Carefully transfer the tomato mixture to a food processor or blender. Puree until smooth. (Use caution when pureeing hot ingredients.) Set a fine-mesh sieve over a medium bowl; pour the pureed mixture through the sieve, pushing on the solids with a wooden spoon to extract all the liquid. (Discard solids.) Let the sauce cool to room temperature, about 1 1/2 hours.

Tips & Notes

Tip: The membranes that hold the seeds are the spiciest part of chile peppers (that's where the capsaicin is). The seeds pick up some spiciness by association. You can customize the heat of salsa or hot sauce by using some or all of the seeds along with the flesh of the pepper and tasting as you go. Be sure to wash your hands thoroughly after chopping hot peppers or wear rubber gloves.

Nutrition

Per 1-tablespoon serving: 14 calories; 1 g fat (0 g sat, 1 g mono); 0 mg cholesterol; 1 g carbohydrates; 0 g protein; 0 g fiber; 114 mg sodium; 40 mg potassium.

Exchanges: free food