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Tomato Chile De Arbol Salsa

Simple and basic salsa recipes I have adapted from mom's version
Course Salsa
Cuisine Mexican
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Servings 12 ounces

Equipment

  • Comal or griddle pan
  • Blender

Ingredients

  • 12-14 dried chile de arbol
  • 1-2 Serrano chile peppers
  • 2 large cloves of garlic with skins on
  • 1 tsp avocado or vegetable oil
  • 2 large roma tomatoes
  • 1/2- 3/4 cup cooking water from tomatoes
  • Salt to taste

Instructions

  • Transfer the chile de arbol, serrano peppers and garlic(with skins on) to your comal(griddle). Heat to right below medium.
  • After a minute, drizzle 1 tsp of oil onto salsa ingredients on the comal. At the same time, cut the core out of the tomatoes. Place them in a glass bowl and cover halfway with water. Cook in the microwave for 7 minutes. Let them sit in microwave until you are ready to use them. Or you can gentle drop tomatoes in simmering water and cook until skins pull away.
  • After a few minutes the ingredients on the comal should start to become aromatic and sizzle a little. Toss them gently as needed until the dried chile de arbol begin to blacken in spots. If it's smoking, the heat is too high! Lol! Coughing may begin!! Ha, ha!
  • Remove the dried chiles once you see some blackening. The serranos exterior skin should blister and blacken in spots. Do not leave the garlic past 15 minutes. Remove stems from chiles and skins from garlic cloves.
  • Transfer chiles and garlic to the blender. Remove the tomatoes from the microwave. Transfer tomatoes to blender. Pour in 1/2-3/4 cup of the cooking water from tomatoes into the blender. Season, to taste with salt. Blend on high until very smooth. Taste for salt. Pour the blended salsa into a medium pot. Bring up to a simmer and cook for 7 minutes. Serve the salsa warm or cool completely and store in a glass jar refrigerated for 7-8 days.

Notes

Why do I cook the salsa? Glad you asked, lol! I talk about this point quite often on my instagram stories. Cooking tomato or tomatillo salsa helps cook out the natural pectin that they contain. The pectin is what can make your salsa clumpy and separate when refrigerated. Has that ever happened to you? Cooking it also improves the flavor and extends the life of the salsa by a few days.