Salsa Roja , Salsa Verde!
If there's salsa roja, there must be salsa verde too! Why not? Sharing with you two basic recipes that can be used for all your favorite Mexican dishes!
Servings 1 quart each salsa
Equipment
- Blender
- Comal or griddle
- Saute pan
- Sauce pan
Ingredients
Salsa Roja
- 6-7 Roma tomatoes
- 10-13 chile puya or chile de arbol stems removed
- 2-3 serrano peppers
- 2-3 jalapeño peppers
- 1/4 white onion
- 3-6 cloves of garlic
- drizzle of oil
- Salt to taste
- 1-1 1/2 cups water
Salsa Verde
- 2 lbs tomatillo milpero or regular tomatillo husk removed, washed
- 6-8 serrano peppers stems removed
- 1/4 white onion
- 3-6 cloves of garlic
- drizzle of oil
- handful of fresh cilantro washed
- Salt to taste
- 1- 1 1/2 cups water
Instructions
Salsa Roja
- Add dried chile puya, serrano, jalapeño, onion and garlic to skillet. Turn to medium. Drizzle with a little oil.
- In a separate pot, cover tomatoes with water and bring up to a boil at medium heat. Cook tomatoes in steady boiling water until you see tomato skins start to peel away. If you choose to peel skins from tomatoes, this will yield a smoother salsa in the end. It's optional.
- When the ingredients in saute pan start to sizzle and become aromatic, start to gently turn and flip ingredients for the next 5-6 minutes, making sure dried chiles don't blacken too much. After 5-6 minutes, transfer dried chiles to the blender. Pour in some of the cooking water from tomatoes to dried chiles. let sit. Continue cooking remaining ingredients until they begin to caramelize a bit.
- When ready, transfer serranos, jalapeños, onions and garlic to the blender. Add tomatoes and a little more of the cooking water(1/2 cup). Season with salt to taste. Blend on high until smooth. Transfer back to sauce pan and cook at medium heat for at least ten minutes. Taste for salt along the way.
- Cooking the salsa after blending it is optional. Frying the salsa in a little preheated oil is optional as well. It adds another level of flavor. Cooking the salsa will extend the refrigerator life of salsa by a few days.
Salsa Verde
- Line a large comal or griddle with foil paper. Transfer washed tomatillos on to lined comal and turn heat to medium. After a few minutes, they will begin to sizzle and blacken in some spots. Turn as needed, cooking for 13-17 minutes.
- On a separate comal, at medium heat, line with foil paper. Roast the chiles serranos and onion for 15 minutes, turning as needed. Drizzle with a little oil to speed up the process and add more flavor!
- Keep tomatillos, serranos and onion wrapped in foil paper where they will steam for a few minutes.
- After about 10 minutes, transfer tomatillos, serranos (stems removed) and onion to the blender. Also add fresh garlic, salt to taste, handful of fresh cilantro, and about 1 cup of water. Blend on high until smooth. If you prefer a very thick salsa, hold off on adding water until after you blend. Then you can add a little if desired.
- Transfer blended salsa to a sauce pan and cook for at least 10 minutes at medium heat. Cooking the salsa cooks out the natural pectin in the tomatillos which will yield a smoother salsa in the end. Taste for salt as it cooks.
- Transfer salsas to glass jars, seal tight and let cool at room temperature. Store in refrigerator for 7-10 days.
Notes
For milder versions of these two salsa recipes only use 1/3 of the chile peppers listed in each recipe. The heat level of any of these peppers, fresh or dried, varies. I never rely that one pepper means a mild salsa, lol! Sometimes they are extremely hot, even jalapeños. Depends on any given day.