In the United States, homemade salsa often means a chopped pico de gallo-style fresh tomato version. What we buy in jars is more like Mexico's very common molcajete salsa, the best ones (in Mexico and in American jars) being made from roasted tomatoes, jalapeños and garlic. Given the fact that the best off-season tomatoes you can buy never compare with the farmers' market variety, I only make chopped, fresh tomato salsas in the summer, when tomatoes are at their peak.
Roasted Tomato Salsa is something else entirely. Because we can all lay our hands on decent fire-roasted tomatoes in a can when farmers' market tomatoes aren't around, this is a recipe that can be made year-round. And besides being a good salsa for tacos and chips, it can be relied on for many other dishes such as great huevos rancheros, salsa-baked fish (or chicken or tofu or vegetables) or a simple but dressy arroz a la tumba (salsa-infused rice with seafood). Classic, available and useful-that's why it's one of my go-to recipes.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 pound (about 2 medium-large round or 4 to 5 plum) ripe tomatoes OR one 15-ounce can diced fire-roasted tomatoes, undrained
- 3 unpeeled garlic cloves
- 1 to 2 small fresh jalapeño chiles, stemmed
- 1/2 small white onion, sliced ½-inch thick
- Salt
INSTRUCTIONS
Heat a broiler, adjust the rack as high as it will go, and spread the tomatoes, garlic, chiles and onion onto a rimmed baking sheet. Roast everything until the tomatoes are softening, blackened and blistered on one side, usually about 6 minutes, then turn everything and roast the other side. The tomatoes, garlic and chiles should be soft to create the best texture and flavor in the salsa. When cooled, roughly chop the chiles (no need to remove the seeds), slip off and discard the papery skin of the garlic and peel off most of the skin from the tomatoes, if you’d like. In the classic, 3-cup-capacity lava-rock mortar (molcajete), add the garlic and chiles and sprinkle them with salt. Crush these to a paste.
Then, one by one, add the tomatoes and crush them to a coarse puree, adding any juices from the baking sheet. This takes a little patience (as well as practice), but you'll get the sweetest and richest flavor by using a mortar. (No mortar? Pulse the garlic and roughly chopped chiles in a food processor until finely chopped, then add the tomatoes with any juices from the baking sheet and pulse a few times to make a coarse puree.)
Scrape the salsa into a bowl, then chop the roasted onion into small pieces (I like ones about 1/4 inch) and stir them in. You may need to stir in about ¼ cup water to give it an easily spoonable consistency. Last, taste the salsa and season it with salt (usually about 3/4 teaspoon)
For canned fire-roasted tomatoes, follow all the same steps–broiler-roasting garlic, chiles, onions–but instead of roasted and peeled fresh tomatoes, use one 15-ounce can diced fire-roasted tomatoes with its juice.
