Roasted Pepper Salsa

This salsa is a little labor intensive because you will be roasting a pile of peppers and the onion. It is also a cooked salsa. But the effort is well worth it. The roasted peppers and onions impart a rich, smoky flavor that can't be beat. The recipe as I have it here makes a very hot salsa - triple X (XXX) hot! That's how I like it. If you want to cool it off a touch leave out the Serrano. To cool it off even further leave out the Serrano and one of the jalapenos. But keep in mind that peppers vary greatly in their spiciness - sometimes the Serranos are hot, sometimes not as much.

Roasted Pepper Salsa
2 tablespoons of your everyday olive oil
1 medium yellow onion sliced and roasted (see instructions below)
4 cloves garlic put through a press
1 red bell pepper halved, seeded, and roasted (see instructions below for all the peppers)
1 poblano pepper whole and roasted
2 jalapeno peppers whole and roasted
1 Serrano pepper whole and roasted
2 tablespoons mild dried chile flakes
4 slicing tomatoes chopped
1 cup of vegetable broth
1 teaspoon kosher salt

To roast and prepare the peppers: Preheat your broiler to 525 degrees. Place all of the peppers in a roasting pan, or on a broiler rack and roast for about 8 minutes until the meat of the peppers in tender and the skin is blistered and slightly charred. Place them in a plastic bag and allow them to cool. Once they have cooled enough to be handled remove their skin - it should peel off easily. The exception is the Serranos, they are often too tender to peel, just leave them as they as are. Rough chop all of the peppers.

To prepare the onion: Once you have removed the peppers from the broiler, and while they are cooling, you can proceed with the onion. Spread your sliced onion on the same pan or rack and place them in the broiler for about 5 minutes until they are just starting to get tender and charred.

To make the salsa: In a medium saucepan heat the oil, roasted peppers, the onion, and the garlic. Add the tomatoes and heat until they start to break down, about 10 minutes. Add the broth and the chili flakes and bring to a simmer on medium-high heat. Cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer gently for 30 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in the salt, and let the salsa cool a bit. Once it has cooled puree in a blender until smooth.

Makes 4.5 cups

I use all organic ingredients, as always, and as much produce as I can from my own garden. I have a giant bag of dried chili flakes that I picked up at a little stand in Chimayo, New Mexico for next to nothing. They are really very mild, I include them in this recipe not for the heat, but for their deep chili flavor. I highly recommend you seek out the finest quality New Mexican chilies you can find. The flavor is worth the extra cost and effort.

Enjoy!