Our garden is currently exploding with tomatoes – anyone want some? A couple weeks ago we had an abundance of cucumbers, but this week it’s tomatoes. Obviously that means I should share another salsa recipe with you. I mean, pico de gallo is great for any occasion, but if you want to put a little extra something special into your salsa, roasting your tomatoes is a great option!
Tomatillos are also coming into season, so if you’re really wanting to think outside the box, grab a few of those and add them to this recipe. And a side note – tomatillos are super easy to grow – at least in our hot southern climate. Last year we grew two tomatillo plants (you have to grow at least two so they can cross-pollinate – oh the things you learn when growing your own food!) They’re fun plants to have in your garden because the fruits grow in pretty little paper husks – once they fill the husk and start to break out of it, you know they’re ready! We still have a freezer full of tomatillos from last year, so we decided not to grow any this time around.
Speaking of an abundance of veggies – one of the things I’ve always loved about living in the country is how many people have backyard gardens, and how willing they are to share their produce. “Eating local” and “growing organic” isn’t a newfound fad around here, it’s a way of life. I remember when I was a kid we always had people from the church my dad pastors dropping off bags of tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and peaches on our front doorstep. Sometimes we’d look in the bag and wonder “what exactly is that vegetable?” Inevitably the mystery veggie would make its way into some soup or casserole. Another story for another day.
Recently a sweet lady in our church offered up an open invitation to my mom to stop by her house and pick pears whenever she wanted. My mom stopped by Dixie’s house to take a few pears off her hands and called me as she was leaving, “I ended up with more fruits and veggies than I know what to do with! I’m bringing some by your house!” When she arrived she brought in a bag of pears and a bag of tomatoes and exclaimed “I’m not done yet – come help me get stuff out of the car!” Two bell peppers, three banana peppers, seven jalapeños, two honeydew, one huge watermelon, five eggplant, twenty or thirty something pears, and two ginormous bags full of tomatoes later, we’d split her bounty down the middle. All that being said – many thanks to Dixie for the gorgeous yellow tomatoes below! We used them for everything from bruschetta to pasta sauce to this delicious salsa.
Roasted Tomato Salsa
Ingredients
- 2-3 c of cherry tomatoes halved
- Optional 3-4 large tomatillos, halved (6-7 if using small tomatillos like I did)
- 2 or more jalapeños halved lengthwise and the seeds removed if you want a milder salsa
- Juice from 1-2 large limes
- 1/2 - 1 c loosely packed cilantro leaves
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1/4 tsp cumin
- 3/4 medium tomatoes
- 1/4 c white onion finely diced
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
- Grease a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil and place tomatoes, tomatillos (if using), and jalapeños, cut side down on the pan. (I didn't do that for the photos, but your veggies will stick to the pan later if you do it the other way!)
- Roast in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes. Remove pan from oven, carefully flip all the veggies so they're now cut side up, and roast for about 15 more minutes, or until roasted and delicious looking. Keep an eye on them during the last half of roasting to be sure they don't burn - char is good, burn is bad. Let cool slightly before adding to the rest of the ingredients.
- While the veggies are roasting, you can begin to assemble the rest of your ingredients.
- Place roasted veggies, lime, cilantro, salt and pepper, garlic, cumin, and fresh tomatoes in a food processor or blender and blend to desired consistency. If your salsa is too thick, you can always add another tomato or two to add more juice back in. Adjust to taste.
- For a little more texture in my salsa, I stir the onion in at the very end. If you want a smoother salsa, you're welcome to blend that in as well.
Notes