Blistered Tomato Garlic Salsa

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Cherry tomatoes, garlic, herbs, lemon slices, olive oil, and chile arbol are cooked down until the tomato is blistered.

Cooking these ingredients in olive oil, it strips the raw garlic cloves of their acidity, removes their sharp heat and concentrates their sweetness. The same for tomatoes. The chile arbol peppers, kept whole, encapsulates and reduces the infusion of the hot chile flavor (picante) into the salsa. This dish will turn out with a hint of picante by using whole peppers. However you can increase the level of picante by increasing the number of peppers or breaking them in sections.

I was inspired to prepare this recipe after viewing chef Javier Placencia prepare this dish in a cable TV food show. Javier operates restaurants along the lenght of Baja California, Mexico and he is a leader in Baja Med cuisine. Baja Med dishes showcase the fresh produce and seafood of Baja California Mexico. You can learn about Javier and his restaurants in this link: Javier Placencia

Let’s get started

Ingredients

½ cup extra virgin olive oil

1 pint cherry tomatoes (2cups)

8 cloves of garlic mashed or one whole head of garlic

3 slices of lemon

3 sprigs of thyme

1 sprig rosemary

6 or more peppers of chile arbol, whole

1 teaspoon sea salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Preparation

Add all the ingredients in a sauté pan with vertical sides large enough to hold all the tomatoes in one layer. Cook at medium low heat until the tomatoes lose their firmness and the garlic has softened for about 20 minutes. Set aside to cool, remove her stems.