Roasted Tomato Salsa

Ingredients

2 dried ancho chilies

2 dried pasilla chilies

3 pounds Roma tomatoes, or about 10

1 jalapeno (or more if you feel adventurous)

2 small onions or 1 large onion, about ½ pound

4 garlic cloves

Olive oil

½ teaspoon salt (for the veggies)

¼ teaspoon fresh cracked pepper (for the veggies)

1 teaspoon Mexican oregano

½ teaspoon cumin

¼ teaspoon smoked paprika

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon fresh cracked pepper

1 cup cilantro leaves, loosely packed or a generous handful of cilantro leaves

Juice of 1 lime, about ¼ cup

Directions

Begin by cutting the stems off of the dried peppers and removing as many of the seeds as you can. It’s okay if a few are left behind. You might need to break the dried peppers into pieces to get the seeds out.

Place the dried chilies in a small saucepan, cover with water, and bring it to a boil. Simmer the chilies for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat, cover the pan, and let them soak for about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, slice the Roma tomatoes in half and use a grapefruit spoon with a serrated tip to remove the seeds and pulp. Trim the stem end. I make a small ‘v’ cut with my knife around the stem part, lifting just the stem piece out.

Drizzle some olive oil on a cookie sheet. Place the tomatoes cut side up on the pan.

Slice and seed the jalapeno using the grapefruit spoon. Place it cut side up on the same pan as the tomatoes. Protect your hands when handling the jalapeno. I usually use the produce bag over my hand as a glove while working with the pepper. You can also buy gloves in the pharmacy section of your store near where the bandages are stocked.

Peel and cut the onions into wedges. Place those on the same pan.

Sprinkle ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper over the vegetables. Sprinkle the salt from up high, about 10 inches from the vegetables. It helps the salt to distribute evenly over the vegetables.

Roast in a 450 degree oven. Check after 10 minutes. Using tongs, flip over a tomato and see if the skin removes easily. If it does, they are done. If not, return the pan to the oven for 5-10 more minutes, checking about every 5 minutes.

Remove the tomato skins and place the tomatoes and onions in a blender or food processor. Check the jalapeno peppers. If the skins do not remove easily, place them back in the oven for a few minutes, if you like. The skin of the peppers may not come completely off. That is okay. Place them in the food processor when they are done.

I recommend placing one jalapeno into the blender, following the rest of the steps. At the end, add any additional jalapeno to the blender one half of a pepper at a time. Then blend it up and taste it until it is hot enough for you. It’s easy to add heat, but not so easy to take it away.

While the tomatoes and veggies roast, slice the garlic cloves in half. Using the tip of a knife, pick out any green parts in the middle of the garlic clove. This also helps the peel to come off easier. We want to take the green part out because we are using the garlic fresh and the green will taste bitter. If we were cooking the garlic, we could leave it in and any bitterness would cook out of it. I usually remove it either way.

Mince the garlic and place in the food processor or blender. Mincing it helps the garlic distribute evenly throughout the salsa. If you add it in without mincing, chunks of garlic might not fully break down. I use a garlic press here to make my life easier.

Strain the dried chilies, reserving the liquid. Add the reconstituted dried chilies, cilantro, oregano, cumin, smoked paprika, ½ teaspoon salt, and several grinds of pepper, or about ¼ teaspoon, along with some of the liquid from the saucepan. Start with around a ¼ cup of the liquid from the saucepan, and use additional liquid as needed to obtain the desired consistency. Use your tongs to lift some of the veggies allowing the liquid to pool at the bottom near the blades. This will help the blender do its job. Pulse until the desired consistency.

Stir in the lime juice. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed. Add extra jalapenos, blending and tasting at this step.

This salsa tastes best served warm, in my opinion. Now that's yumtastic!