🎵🎶It’s beginning to look a lot like🎶🎵 …Tomato Season🤭!!!! One of the most wonderful times of the year am I right? A fresh tomato from the garden is one of my favourite summer treats!! Whether it’s on its own with a little flaky sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper, in a Caprese salad (with Burrata🤤), in a sandwich on fresh sourdough, Marinara sauce and of course Salsa!! You can’t even compare eating a tomato in August vs eating a tomato in January. The tomatoes in the summer have such great flavour, they are so sweet, bright in colour and are just perfect. In the winter, they lack of flavour, their colours are pale and it’s just not the same!! That’s why I get a little crazy during tomato season because it comes and go sooo fast!! I’ve mentioned before I love canning so this time of the year starts to be a little busy for me (this year you can add building a house and running a blog on top of canning season lol) It’s ok though… I’ll survive… with wine🤣!!! When it comes to canning tomatoes, I usually make Salsa (my canning Salsa recipe is a little different than the one we’re making today, but don’t worry I’ll share that recipe too), whole tomatoes, marinara sauce and then I also make tomato soup which I freeze and oven dried tomatoes!!
Ok, let me start off about talking about the tomato itself! So many different varieties of tomatoes: Roma (also known as plum tomato), Beefsteak, Cherry, Grape, Heirloom, and so many more! All delicious, but they all have different purposes! Some are better in salads and sandwiches, some are better for cooking and canning. My go to for cooking is a Roma and they are very accessible!! I’ve been lucky enough to have a local organic famer supply me for the past few years and they are always PERFECT!! Now the reason I opt for Roma’s is because of its texture mostly. It’s one of more “dryer” tomatoes. Now you might be scratching your head and saying a dry tomato🤔? What I mean by that is that it’s one of the tomatoes with less moisture. When you’re making sauces that you want to cook down and thicken, you want to use a tomato that isn’t filled with lots of juice. Again, it comes down to what I was saying earlier, every tomato has their purpose. If I would be making a Caprese Salad for example, I would opt for a nice juicy heirloom. Does this make any sense to you lol 🤷🏻♀️?Anyways, there’s my two cents on 🍅🍅🍅 hehe.
I try to “can” as many as I can (a few years ago I canned 100 pounds…lol) This year I’m aiming for 50, wish me luck! I always try to can whole tomatoes so I have some for the winter but usually I’ve used up most of them for my Salsa and Sauces. Usually, I manage to have 5-6 quarts and they are so precious I keep them all to myself😏!! If you’re canning your tomatoes to use all year long, fantastic!!! If you’re not into canning or don’t have time (its time consuming I know…) Store bought canned tomatoes are the absolute way to go!! The store-bought canned tomatoes are canned at their peak!!! What I’m trying to say is if you want to make a big pot of fresh marina sauce with some fresh tomatoes, go for it… in the summer!! If you’re craving marinara in December, store-bought canned tomatoes will give you the best result 😊! Now, let’s Salsaaa 💃🏻!!!
Today, we’re going to make another one of my favourites tomato recipes,
Roasted Tomato Salsa!! You guys are probably noticing I’m a fan of roasting my veggies lol! Well, it just gives such great flavour to everything!! Like I just mentioned, I make 2 different kinds of salsa (well 3 if you count Pico di Gallo which is fresh salsa with raw tomatoes). Let me explain the difference:
- Roasted Tomato Salsa: Which requires minimal chopping, roast everything in the oven, blend everything up with lime juice and fresh cilantro, done! Easy Peasy.
- Chunky Canning Salsa: Which is equally delicious, but take a lot more time. Lots of chopping, more ingredients, longer cooking time + canning. When I make this version, I takes almost a day because a I make many batches so I have salsa all year long! You could make this version without canning but it’s still about double the time.
- Pico di Gallo: Fresh tomato salsa! The one that you eat in Mexico, with a side of Guac and a Margarita (That sounds nice right about now😅). Diced fresh tomatoes, raw white onions, lime juice, cilantro, salt and pepper. I think some people add garlic too.
All delicious, all so different, all my favourites (don’t make me choose lol)!!
Let’s begin!
- You’ll need about 2 pounds of tomatoes which is about 8 large Romas. Don’t worry if it’s a little over or a little under, this recipe is very forgiving!!
- You’ll also need 1 large Red Onions (White will do). If you don’t have one large, use 2 smalls.
- 1 Jalapeño pepper. I’m sure most of you know this but for those who don’t, the heat in a pepper mostly lives in the ribs (the white membrane) and the seeds. Also, all peppers are different so give it a little taste before you throw it in your salsa🔥! If you love a good spicy salsa, put the whole pepper in there. I you want it spicy but not too much, take out most of the ribs and seeds and just use the pepper itself. If you don’t want spice at all, you could omit the jalapeño completely.
- Fresh garlic, 4-5 cloves! I want you to remove the cloves from the bulb but keep the garlic cloves in their little “jackets”. By doing this, you’re basically going to make individual roasted garlic. After about 30 minutes remove the garlic and keep roasting for another 15 minutes until everything has a good char.
- The other things you’ll need is Fresh cilantro, Limes, Salt, Pepper & EVOO.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Rinse and dry the tomatoes. Slice the tomatoes in half, remove the little stem on top where the leaf is. Add the sliced tomatoes to a large bowl.
- If you’re using one large onion, cut it in 6 large chunks. If you’re using 2 smalls, simply cut in two pieces. Add to the bowl with the tomatoes.
- Cut the jalapenos (if using) into 3-4 pieces. If you want to remove the ribs and seeds, slice it lengthwise and remove the inside. Add the pieces with the tomatoes and onions.
- You’ll need 4-5 large garlic cloves. Remove them from the bulb but do no peel them. Add to the bowl with the other ingredients.
- Drizzle everything with 3-4 TBSP EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil). Season with salt (about 1 teaspoon) and freshly cracked black pepper. Give everything a mix and transfer to the prepared baking sheet. You could totally add some ground cumin before roasting too, it would add great flavour!
- Bake for 30 minutes and then remove the garlic cloves. Set the cloves aside until cool enough to handle. Bake the tomato mixture another 10-15 minutes until everything begins to have nice charred edges.
- Remove the pan from the oven and cool for at least 15 minutes.
- You can either use a food processor or a blender for this. The food processor will give you a “chunkier salsa”. I used my Vitamix but I didn’t “over blend”. Add the cooled tomato mixture to your blender of choice. Add the juice of 2 limes, ½ cup of cilantro leaves, stems and all and blend until the consistency is to your liking.
- Pour into a bowl, adjust seasoning and store in the fridge to cool completely.
A few other tips:
- The amount of limes I have used has varied from time to time. Depends on the size of the limes really. Start with the juice of 2 times with your tomato mixture in the blender. Once you’ve transferred the salsa to a bowl, give a taste and add extra lime juice from there if you wish.
- Same goes for Cilantro. If you want to add extra chopped cilantro, go for it!! It’s your Salsa 😉.
- Best served once it’s cooled completely. I like this salsa cold. It also will thicken up as it cools!
- Keeps in the fridge for a week!
There you go, you’re ready for your next Fiesta! May I suggest pairing this with some
🌶️ Spicy Watermelon Margs🍉! If you really want to go all out, make my homemade tortilla chips and Guac🥑 (recipes are in my Healthy Taco Salad post).
XO, Nat
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Roasted Tomato Salsa with fresh Summer tomatoes, does it get any better. Easy to make, delicious to eat!
Ingredients
- 2 Pounds fresh Roma (or Italian Plum) Tomatoes, about 8 large
- 1 Large red onion (or 2 smalls)
- 1 Jalapeño pepper
- 4-5 Large garlic cloves
- 2-3 Limes*
- EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
- Salt & Pepper
- Optional* 1 teaspoon dried cumin
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
- Wash the tomatoes and then dry completely with a clean kitchen towel.
- Prepare a large baking sheet with parchment paper, set aside
- Slice the tomatoes in half. Remove the little core on top of the tomato where the leaves are. Add the prepared tomatoes to a large bowl.
- Chop the onion into 6 chunks. Add to the bowl.
- Remove 4-5 large garlic cloves from the bulb of garlic but do not peel them. Leave the cloves in their little “jackets” (see picture in the post). Add the cloves to the tomato/onion mixture.
- Chop the jalapeño pepper into 2-3 chunks. If you want the jalapeño flavour but not the heat, simply remove the ribs (the white membrane) and the seeds.
- Drizzle 3-4 TBSP of EVOO over the tomato mixture. Season with salt and pepper and give everything a mix. You can also add ground cumin if you wish but it’s optional (1 teaspoon).
- Cook for 30 minutes. Remove the garlic cloves from the pan, set them aside and return the baking sheet to the oven for another 15 minutes or so until everything begins to have charred edges.
- Remove from the oven and let cool for about 15 minutes.
- You can either use a food processor or blender, they both work great. Add the tomato mixture to your blender of choice. Peel the skin of the garlic cloves and add to the garlic flesh to the blender. Add the juice of 2 limes and 1/2 cup cilantro leaves. You don’t have to chop the cilantro, loose leaves are fine. The blender will chop it up for you.
- Blend or Pulse until desired consistency is achieved.
- Transfer to a bowl and adjust seasoning to taste. You can also add additional lime juice or extra chopped cilantro.
- Store in the fridge for up to a week.
Notes
*You can choose to add cumin to you veggies before roasting but it’s totally optional. Both version are delicious!
**This salsa is best served cold! Better to chill completely before serving!
Keywords: Tomatoes, Salsa, Cilantro
