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 [1] 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.