Homemade Oven-Roasted Restaurant Style Salsa ((This is as GOOD as it gets!))
This could totally be one of “those” recipes. You know, one of the recipes that is kept secret — locked up and never shared in it’s entirety?? Good for you – I am bad at keeping a good thing secret! In addition to being the most perfect salsa tasting salsa, it is just so very easy to make. You must try this at home!
Simply gather a few jalapeños, a nice white onion, 3 to 4 tomatoes & a few large cloves of garlic.
Quarter & seed the tomatoes. Discard the seeds.
Peel and quarter the onion.
Leave the paper/skin covering on the garlic cloves. If the cloves are all tiny, leave the entire bulb intact.
Lay everything out on a parchment lined baking sheet. Roast the veggies for 45 minutes on 400°.
Allow the veggies to roast until a bit of char appears.
Once roasting is complete, if you are so inclined, place the jalapeños in a paper bag to remove the skin. ((All I had was a plastic baggie. I had to allow the peppers to cool for 5 minutes to keep from melting the bag. They cooled just enough that the skins didn’t release. No biggie, the food processor pulverized the skin.))
Another bonus to leaving the skins on: the veggies retain the maximum amount of char flavor.
Into a food processor:
- roasted veggies
- 1 c fresh cilantro
- 1 – 14.5 oz can of crushed tomatoes
- 1 – 14.5 oz can Rotel-style tomatoes & peppers ((I used mild))
- ½ teaspoon cane sugar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon McCormick’s Montreal Steakhouse seasoning blend
Taste throughout the mixing & season accordingly. I recommend tasting with the chips you will serve with the salsa, this will help prevent over salting the salsa.
Serve with corn chips — and force yourself not to eat the entire batch in one sitting!
- 3-4 medium/large tomatoes ((quartered and seeded))
- 2 medium jalapeños ((more or less depending on your heat tolerance))
- 1 medium white onion ((quartered))
- 2-3 large cloves of garlic unpeeled*
- 1 - 14.5 oz can of crushed tomatoes
- 1 - 14.5 oz can Rotel-style tomatoes & peppers ((I used mild))
- 1 c fresh cilantro
- ½ teaspoon cane sugar**
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt**
- ½ teaspoon McCormick's Montreal Steakhouse seasoning blend**
- Preheat oven to 400°. Line a baking sheet with parchment. Placed quartered tomatoes & onions, jalapeños and garlic on the lined baking sheet. Roast for 40-45 minutes, or until a nice black char can be seen on the veggies ((as pictured)).
- *Read the note below regarding the extra precautions to take for the garlic.
- Once veggies are done roasting, either place the peppers in a paper bag to remove skin or skip this step & leave the skin on**.
- Place the roasted veggies, canned tomatoes, cilantro & seasonings in the food processor. Pulse and adjust seasoning to taste**. Be sure to taste with a chip, this will help you avoid over-salting.
- Lasts up to 2 weeks in the fridge. Serve with your favorite corn tortilla chips.
- *If the cloves in your garlic bulb are tiny, just roast the entire head as a whole. Regardless of the size, you may need to remove the garlic after only 30 minutes. You don't want it to burn because burned garlic adds a distinct bitter flavor to food ((YUCK)). So keep a close eye on the garlic and check about halfway through the roasting time.
- **After tasting the final product, the charred skin of the veggies imparts such a nice flavor that I have decided I prefer to leave the skin on.
If you love homemade salsa, check out THIS Food for a Year recipe for simple, authentic 7-minute DIY Salsa.
Okay, I am off to slurp up every last bit of this salsa before David gets home to stop me!