[If you’re reading this part of the intro, that means the salsa recipe auto-posted while I’m across the pond and didn’t get a chance to update the post. Imagine I wrote something topical here about the Week 2 games and the fantasy football pick’em leagues!]

For years when I made homemade salsa I just put a bunch of tomatoes, onions, cilantro, lime, garlic and jalapenos in a blender and hit the “chop” button. Then one of my fantasy football and real life buddies Josh post his — or more accurately, his mother’s — recipe for a roasted salsa.

It was a revelation. Of course I needed to put tomatillos in my salsa. So obvious, especially since I’ve been putting them in vegetable soup for years. And of course, why wasn’t I roasting the vegetables I made them into a salsa? Did I even know anything about salsa at all?

Obviously not.

Once I started messing around with Josh’s basic salsa recipe, I found my own way to make both a hot and mild salsa perfect for game day. It’s easy to make ahead of time and yields far more salsa for your dollar than anything in a jar.

(Although a great salsa recipe didn’t prevent Josh from drafting both CJ Spiller and Braylon Edwards.)

You will need:

About a pound or so of Roma tomatoes, seeds removed
3 tomatillos, paper leaf outside removed
3-4 jalapenos, seeds removed
1 onion
3-4 scallions
2-3 cloves of garlic
juice from 3 limes
1 bunch of cilantro, divided
1-2 teaspoons salt, depending on taste
1 tablespoon vegetable oil (optional)
1-2 teaspoons ground ancho chili (optional)
1-2 teaspoons ground chipotle pepper (optional)

After you’ve removed the seeds from the tomatoes and the jalapenos, slice the tomatillos in half and roughly chop the onion.

Lay on a foil lined pan and either grill or heat under a hot broiler.

Grill until the tomatoes have wilted and you have a good char on all of the vegetables.

Set aside to cool for a couple of minutes.

Toss in a blender or food processor (or chop by hand) the roasted vegetables, the scallions, half a bunch of cilantro and 1-2 teaspoons of salt.

Chop to desired consistency. I like a chunky salsa, but you can see in Josh’s recipe, he purees it smooth.

You could stop here and have an amazing salsa, or you can keep going and have an even more amazing salsa. Up to you.

Oh, so you want an amazing-amazing salsa?

In a large skillet, heat one tablespoon of vegetable oil. Spoon in a small amount of salsa. Watch it crackle and pop, and once it’s simmering all over…

Add some more salsa. Let that heat up and crackle and pop…

And then add some more salsa.

Keep repeating until you’ve added all of your salsa to the pan and cook until thickened, stirring frequently. After a few minutes, you’ll have a simply amazing thick salsa.

Once the salsa has thickened, set it aside to cool a minute before the next step.

Chop the remaining cilantro and add to the salsa.

Decide how much heat you want in your chip adornment and try to get a feeling for how many people are going to want spicy salsa and how many are going to want mild. A smart bet is to just divide the batch in half and then add ground ancho chili to the mild and ground chipotle for the spicy to taste.

If you know you want super hot salsa, use a chipotle pepper packed in adobe sauce. I just prefer ground chipotle for salsa because it’s easier to control the heat.

Serve with your favorite chip, or since you’re already making homemade salsa, go ahead and make your own chips.

Homemade Roasted Salsas: Football Foodie Quick Hit
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
 
Ingredients
  • About a pound or so of Roma tomatoes, seeds removed
  • 3 tomatillos, paper leaf outside removed
  • 3-4 jalapenos, seeds removed
  • 1 onion
  • 3-4 scallions
  • 2-3 cloves of garlic
  • juice from 3 limes
  • 1 bunch of cilantro, divided
  • 1-2 teaspoons salt, depending on taste
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil (optional)
  • 1-2 teaspoons ground ancho chili (optional)
  • 1-2 teaspoons ground chipotle pepper (optional)
Instructions
  1. After you’ve removed the seeds from the tomatoes and the jalapenos, slice the tomatillos in half and roughly chop the onion.
  2. Lay on a foil lined pan and either grill or heat under a hot broiler.
  3. Grill until the tomatoes have wilted and you have a good char on all of the vegetables. Set aside to cool for a couple of minutes.
  4. Toss in a blender or food processor (or chop by hand) the roasted vegetables, the scallions, half a bunch of cilantro and 1-2 teaspoons of salt.
  5. Chop to desired consistency.
  6. OPTIONAL
  7. In a large skillet, heat one tablespoon of vegetable oil. Spoon in a small amount of salsa. Watch it crackle and pop, and once it’s simmering all over add a small amount more. Repeat the process until all of the salsa is simmering in the pan,
  8. Cook until thickened, stirring frequently. After a few minutes, you’ll have a simply amazing thick salsa.
  9. Once the salsa has thickened, set it aside to cool.
  10. Chop the remaining cilantro and add to the salsa.
  11. Decide how much heat you want in your chip adornment and try to get a feeling for how many people are going to want spicy salsa and how many are going to want mild. A smart bet is to just divide the batch in half and then add ground ancho chili to the mild and ground chipotle for the spicy to taste.
  12. If you know you want super hot salsa, use a chipotle pepper packed in adobe sauce. I just prefer ground chipotle for salsa because it’s easier to control the heat.
  13. Serve
Notes
Salsa is great just from the blender without the extra steps if you don't want them.

 

 

 

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One Response to Homemade Roasted Salsas: Football Foodie Quick Hit

  1. Ally Garner says:

    I roast vegetables several times/week for supper, yet it never occurred to me to roast the veggies for salsa. The color is gorgeous & I love the addition of ground ancho chili & chipotle. It looks delicious!

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