Oven Roasted Salsa

PSA: Tomato season is only around for a little longer! But the @fryfamilyfarm chiles are at their peak, so it’s salsa-thirty :)

My go-to recipe is in a style that I learned from the awesome Mexican prep cooks during my time as the chef at @novomodernlatintable (RIP)

For maximum flavor, the veggies should be cooked on the grill, but it’s been so smoky here that I feel bad burning more wood! So I did mine in the oven and it still turned out great.

Here’s the recipe:

11 ripe tomatoes, halved

1 onion, quartered and peeled apart

3 jalapeños, or to taste

4 cloves of garlic, smashed

1/2 bunch of cilantro, finely chopped

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Salt to taste

Arrange tomatoes cut side up along with onion layers, whole jalapeños, and garlic on a sheet tray (as shown in the first picture).

Drizzle with some of the olive oil and salt and broil for 10-15 minutes or until the onions and peppers have a nice char but haven’t fully burned (picture #2).

While everything is still hot - if your blender can handle it - pulse in a blender with the rest of the olive oil. You want everything well mixed, but with some indistinguishable chunks in there, emulating a molcajete-style mashing.

Let cool, then taste for salt and adjust as necessary. Mix in chopped cilantro by hand, and enjoy with some chips and margaritas in the late summer sunshine!

Alex Dakers

Chef / Owner, Yabai Nikkei