Roasted Salsa Roja

Ingredients

• 600 g ripe tomatoes
• 1 onion, halved
• 4 garlic cloves, unpeeled
• 3 jalapeños
• 2 dried ancho chillies
• juice of 1 lime
• a handful of coriander
• 1 tsp ground cumin

Method

1. Char in a dry pan

   Cook the whole tomatoes, onion halves, unpeeled garlic and jalapeños in a dry heavy pan or under a hot grill, turning, until blistered and blackened in patches. Dry heat, no oil — this is roasting, and the char is the flavour.

   15 min

2. Soften the dried chillies

   Toast the anchos for 20 seconds a side, then soak in boiling water for 15 minutes. Dried chillies add a raisiny depth that fresh ones alone never reach.

   15 min

3. Blend, but leave texture

   Squeeze the garlic from its skins and pulse everything with the cumin and salt. Pulse rather than blend — a smooth purée reads as pasta sauce, while a slightly chunky one reads as salsa.

4. Rest, then sharpen

   Leave it 30 minutes for the flavours to settle, then add the lime juice and coriander and check the salt. Roasted salsa dulls if you add the acid too early, and it keeps five days in the fridge.

   30 min