I’ve been traveling and haven’t been in the kitchen much lately. As Thanksgiving approaches, that will change. I am gearing up to cook Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday. !!! I made this salsa a few weeks ago and it was a big hit. It might come in handy in the coming weeks as our kitchen energy goes into cookies and parties and other distractions.
There are two things I really hate doing in the kitchen. One is sifting, I know it is irrational because sifting is a pretty painless task but for some reason it is really irritating to me. The other thing that bothers me is a recipe that requires a lot of chopping. Salsa has always been one of those recipes. I can never find a jarred salsa that I like but we live next door to a taco stand with pretty excellent salsa so it is very rare that I make my own salsa. That might be changing. This salsa which comes together in the food processor is a really excellent, quick and versatile addition to the repertoire. By including canned tomatoes, this becomes a year-round recipe, no need to depend on the tomatoes at your market.
San Marzano tomatos are the way to go here. They are the best and they hold up really well in this salsa. I like to keep a few cans of these stocked in my pantry because I use them for everything- from tomato soup to pasta sauce. (I guess by everything I mean every type of tomato sauce) The recipe is real adaptable. Bryan likes things spicier than I do so he has been adding chipotle powder and additional hot sauce.
Quick Salsa (adapted from a recipe by Tyler Florence)
- 1 28-ounce can whole San Marzano tomatoes, drained with liquid reserved
- 1 small red onion, roughly chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 serano chile
- 1 jalepeno chile
- juice of 1 lime
- 1 tablespoon chipotle powder
- pinch of sugar
- fresh cilantro, to taste
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Combine all of the ingredients in a food processor and pulse until well combined. Season with salt and pepper, and taste for flavor, adjust as needed. You can use the reserved tomato juice to adjust the consistency.
*** You can adjust the heat in this salsa by removing some, or all of the seeds of the chiles. Or by omitting the serano chile entirely.
*** I use all of the liquid from the tomatoes, but if you like a thicker salsa you can omit some.
Jesse says:
November 24th, 2008 at 7:16 pm
At every holiday gathering my family fills up on chips and salsa while we wait for dinner to be cooked. I think this is a fantastic pre-Thanksgiving post as I know personally I’ll be eating tons of salsa on Thursday and I can’t wait!
hanne says:
November 25th, 2008 at 9:46 am
I have an irrational avoidance of chopping, too. I say irrational because usually when I start doing it I get into it and enjoy it. That said, I love a good food processor salsa, and I never would have thought of using San Marzano tomatoes (why not? I don’t know). Great idea!
Erikka says:
November 27th, 2008 at 11:06 am
if this is the salsa that I think it is, i can honestly say it is the best salsa ever.
Farmgirl Susan says:
February 5th, 2009 at 7:56 am
Now I’m craving salsa at eight in the morning! : )