Tortilla Chips with Homemade Spicy Salsa

I am a little embarrassed to admit that I had never made my own homemade salsa before this week. Once I figured out the basic method, I felt silly for never having tried to make this before, simply because it’s so easy! This salsa recipe is basically a pico de gallo mixed with some blended tomatoes and toasted garlic. The tomatoes and garlic are roasted whole with their skins on in a dry pan. I add some heat from a serrano pepper as well.

The following recipe makes a little over 2 cups of salsa, and can easily be scaled up or down.

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Tortilla Chips with Homemade Spicy Salsa

I am a little embarrassed to admit that I had never made my own homemade salsa before this week. Once I figured out the basic method, I felt silly for never having tried to make this before, simply because it’s so easy! This salsa recipe is basically a pico de gallo mixed with some blended tomatoes and toasted garlic. The tomatoes and garlic are roasted whole with their skins on in a dry pan. I add some heat from a serrano pepper as well.

The following recipe makes a little over 2 cups of salsa, and can easily be scaled up or down.

Ingredients

• 3 fully ripe summer tomatoes
• 3 cloves garlic (unpeeled)
• ½ tsp Kosher salt
• 1 red onion (small dice)
• 1 serrano pepper (finely minced)
• Zest of 2 limes
• Juice of 2 limes
• ¼ cup fresh cilantro
• 1 bag of tortilla chips

Instructions 

• Add two of the whole tomatoes to a dry sauté pan with the unpeeled garlic.
• *The third tomato will be cut into a small dice later.
• Increase the heat to medium-high, and toast the garlic and tomato, moving the contents around frequently as they take on some dark spots of color.
• When the tomatoes have taken on some color and the garlic cloves are beginning to soften up, remove them from the heat.
• Remove the peel from the garlic.
• Remove the core, excess liquid, and seeds from the tomatoes.
• Blend the toasted garlic cloves with the seedless tomatoes until you arrive at the consistency of a puree, and set the mixture aside for later.
• *This tomato and garlic puree will be added to the pico de gallo mixture described below.
• For the pico de gallo, dice the final tomato and season with Kosher salt.
• Allow the tomato to sit for ten minutes to drain some of its excess liquid.
• In a bowl, combine the red onion, minced serrano pepper, lime zest, lime juice, and fresh cilantro.
• After the salted and diced tomato has sat for ten minutes, drain off the excess liquid.
• Combine the drained tomatoes with the pico de gallo mixture.
• Add the tomato and garlic puree mixture from earlier to the pico de gallo, and season to taste with Kosher salt or more lime.
• And voila—You have made yourself some delicious homemade salsa!

Notes

This salsa can be made in advance of serving and kept in the fridge. It’s a great item to bring to a party, but if you are serving to a large group, consider cutting the heat level slightly by using a jalapeno instead of a serrano pepper.

If you are in the mood to make your own tortilla chips, you can make your tortillas by hand, cook them briefly on a griddle, and then deep-fry them in vegetable oil.