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Mexico recipeRoasted Tomato Salsa Roja

Smoky taquería-style red salsa with charred tomatoes, jalapeño, chile de árbol, onion and garlic.

By Wanda Oyola 35 min Easy

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Recipe in testing: I'm cooking it in my TM7™ and will update the steps and the photo with my own.

A stone bowl of red roasted tomato salsa with charred tomatoes, chiles and tortilla chips around it.

This is the salsa in the squeeze bottles and little bowls at a good taquería: deep red, smoky and with real heat. Instead of fresh chopped tomatoes, everything gets charred first. Roma tomatoes, a jalapeño or serrano, onion and garlic go under the broiler until blistered and blackened in spots, and a dried chile de árbol or two adds a toasty kick.

Then the Thermomix® TM7™ blends it all with cilantro, lime and salt for just a few seconds, so the salsa stays a little chunky and keeps those dark, flavorful flecks of charred skin. If you like the fresh salsa in the homemade chips and salsa recipe, think of this one as its smoky cousin for tacos, eggs and grilled meat.

Made in the Thermomix® TM7™

Roasted Tomato Salsa Roja

Makes: About 650 g (2 1/2 cups)

  • Prep10 min
  • Cook15 min
  • Total35 min
  • Serves10

Ingredients

To serve

Instructions

  1. Set an oven rack about 10 cm (4 in) below the broiler and heat the broiler on high. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and spread out the tomatoes, jalapeños, onion slices and garlic.
  2. Broil 6 to 8 minutes, until blistered and blackened in spots. Turn everything with tongs and broil 5 to 7 minutes more. Take the garlic and jalapeños out as soon as they are soft and charred, since they cook faster. No broiler? Char everything in a dry cast iron skillet on the stove over medium-high heat, turning, for 10 to 15 minutes.
  3. Meanwhile, toast the chiles de árbol in a small dry skillet on the stove over medium heat for 30 to 60 seconds, turning, just until fragrant. Do not let them burn, or the salsa turns bitter.
  4. Let the vegetables cool for 10 minutes. Peel the garlic and pull the stems off the jalapeños (scrape out the seeds for a milder salsa).
  5. Place the garlic, chiles de árbol, jalapeños, onion and salt in the mixing bowl and chop 5 sec/speed 7. Scrape down the sides with the spatula.
  6. Add the tomatoes with all the juices from the baking sheet, the cilantro and the lime juice. With the measuring cup in place, chop 4 sec/speed 5, until saucy but still a little chunky. For a smoother salsa, chop 3 sec/speed 6 more.
  7. Taste, adjust the salt and lime, and serve warm or at room temperature with tortilla chips.

Tips

  • Heat check: chiles de árbol are hot. Start with one, taste, and add the second next time if you want more fire. For a mild salsa, leave them out and seed the jalapeño.
  • The charred bits of skin are where the smoky flavor lives, so leave most of them on. Pull off only the pieces that are completely black and hard.
  • Spoon it over tacos al pastor, carnitas, huevos rancheros or grilled chicken. It keeps 5 days in a closed jar in the fridge.

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