Put some heat in your SALSA!

Fire Roasted Tomatoes

Fire Roasted Chipotle Tomato Salsa
This tomato salsa is all about fire roasting vine ripened tomatoes and blending them with canned chipotle peppers for spice and flavor. Everyone likes their salsa seasoned differently, some like it spicy and others don't, so adjust this recipe to your taste if you like. Do Hawaiians eat salsa? You bet, ever heard of Paniolos? Hawaiian cowboys.

Ingredients:
6 fresh tomatoes (1 1/2 pounds), cored and cut into quarters
1 medium red onion, peeled and roughly chopped
3 cloves of garlic (peeled and roughly chopped)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoons sea salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 to 2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (depending on your heat tolerance)
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves
1/4 cup fresh lime juice

Tortilla chips for serving

Procedure:
Preheat broiler on high. Place tomato quarters on a broiler-proof sheet pan, skin side up. Broil on top shelf of oven for 15 minutes, turning pan once half way through cooking until tomatoes are charred on top. When the tomatoes are cool enough to handle, remove and dispose of the charred skins. Cut tomato quarters in half. At this point you can freeze the tomatoes until you are ready to make the salsa.

When you are ready to make the salsa, defrost the tomatoes and set aside. Add the rest of the ingredients to a food processor. Pulse a couple of times until combined but still chunky, then gently stir in the roasted tomatoes. Give it a taste to check for seasoning.

Make the salsa several hours before serving, as it will give the flavors a chance to meld. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Serve with tortilla chips, or serve heated over slices of roasted fish or charbroiled shrimp.

Makes about 2 cups.

Note: Friendly Market sometimes carries chipotle peppers in adobo sauce and so does Molokai Wines & Spirits, which is where I buy it. You can freeze any leftover chipotle peppers to use next time.