Classic Roasted Salsa Recipes

BEST DAMN ROASTED SALSA

Steps:

• Clean veggies and remove stems. Slice onion in half. Keep skin on garlic. Heat broiler on high, with rack in top position. Place tomatoes, jalapenos, onion and garlic in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet that is covered with foil.
• Broil until vegetables are blistered and slightly softened, rotating sheet and flipping vegetables frequently, 6 to 8 minutes (garlic may need to be removed earlier, if it is browning too quickly).
• Discard garlic skins and add all ingredients to the bowl of a food processor. Pulse about 3-4 times and until all ingredients are combined and chopped. Roasted salsa is more liquidy than regular salsa.
• Taste the salsa and add more cumin and/or salt as desired.
• Transfer to a bowl and enjoy with tortilla chips! Also, great served over eggs, tacos and more.
• I prefer to refrigerate salsa for 1 day prior to serving to allow the flavors to marry and meld. Salsa will keep for about 1 week in an airtight container or jar in the fridge.

QUICK-ROASTED SALSA

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
• Place the tomatoes, garlic, onion, jalapeno and poblano onto a baking sheet. Drizzle with the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast until charred in spots, about 15 minutes. Set aside and allow to cool slightly, about 5 minutes.
• Transfer the roasted vegetables to a blender. Add the lime zest and juice and puree until smooth, being careful not to fill the blender too full. Transfer to a bowl and stir in the cilantro. Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed. Goes great with chips or alongside enchiladas.

ROASTED TOMATO SALSA

Steps:

• Arrange 6 tomatoes cut side down on a 15x10x1-in. baking pan; drizzle with 1 tablespoon oil. Broil 4 in. from the heat until skin blisters, about 4 minutes. Cool slightly; drain well., In a food processor, process uncooked and roasted tomatoes in batches until chunky. Transfer all to a large bowl., Place the cilantro, lime juice, garlic, lime zest and remaining oil in the food processor. Cover and process until blended; add to tomatoes. Stir in the peppers, onions, cumin, paprika, chipotle pepper, salt and hot sauce. Let stand 1 hour to allow flavors to blend. Serve with chips.

ROASTED SALSA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Line a roasting pan or baking sheet with aluminum foil and coat with cooking spray.
• Arrange tomatoes, cut-side down, in the roasting pan; add Anaheim chile peppers, jalapeno peppers, and poblano peppers, all skin-side up. Add onions and garlic to roasting pan. Spray the vegetable mixture with cooking spray.
• Roast in the preheated oven until tomato and chile pepper skins are blistered and charred, 40 to 45 minutes. Remove from oven and cool for 10 to 15 minutes, keeping skins on tomatoes and chile peppers.
• Blend tomato-chile pepper mixture, lime juice, cilantro, cider vinegar, oregano, cumin, kosher salt, black pepper, and celery salt in a food processor using quick pulses until desired consistency is reached. Refrigerate salsa in an air-tight container.

ROASTED JALAPEñO-TOMATO SALSA WITH FRESH CILANTRO

Steps:

• 1. Heat the broiler. Lay the whole tomatoes and jalapeños out on a broiler pan or baking sheet. Set the pan 4 inches below the broiler and broil for about 6 minutes, until darkly roasted - even blackened in spots - on one side (the tomato skins will split and curl in places). With a pair of tongs, flip over the tomatoes and chiles and roast the other side for another 6 minutes or so. The goal is not simply to char the tomatoes and chiles, but to cook them through while developing nice, roasty flavors. Set aside to cool.
• 2. Turn the oven down to 425 degrees. Separate the onions into rings. On a similar pan or baking sheet, combine the onion and garlic. Roast in the oven, stirring carefully every couple of minutes, until the onions are beautifully browned and wilted (even have a touch of char on some of the edges) and the garlic is soft and browned in spots, about 15 minutes total. Cool to room temperature.
• 3. For a little less rustic texture or if you're canning the salsa, pull off the peels from the cooled tomatoes and cut out the "cores" where the stems were attached, working over your baking sheet so as not to waste any juices. In a food processor, pulse the jalapeños (no need to peel or seed them) with the onion and garlic until moderately finely chopped, scraping everything down with a spatula as needed to keep it all moving around. Scoop into a big bowl. Without washing the processor, coarsely puree the tomatoes - with all that juice that has accumulated around them - and add them to the bowl. Stir in enough water to give the salsa an easily spoonable consistency. Stir in the cilantro.
• 4. Taste and season with salt and vinegar, remembering that this condiment should be a little fiesty in its seasoning. If you're planning to use your salsa right away, simply pour it into a bowl and it's ready, or refrigerate it covered and use within 5 days.