I’ve been hiding this recipe for some time now from my friend, Rob. All that he wanted ever since I started blogging (and really, before I started blogging) was a good salsa recipe. I tried to blackmail him in exchange for him learning wp code and making me a beautiful, glorious webpage… but he held out. What a little turd, right? Oh well, I will give you this delicious salsa recipe anyway. Know why? Because I like you that much. (Close your eyes, Rob!)
I don’t blame him for needing a salsa recipe – I struggled with finding a good one for a long time. No matter what I did, I just couldn’t achieve that restaurant-y salsa that I so badly wanted. I finally just gave up, I could still make pico- and if I must resolve myself to a lifetime of fresh pico – so be it! Never in a thousand years would I have imagined the key to unlocking great tasting restaurant style salsa was in a can.
Crazy, right? All this time I thought it was the fresh ingredients, maybe some secret black market spices, I wasn’t quite sure. I was positive fresh ingredients were an important part… then I saw PW’s recipe. The only recipe that was different from all the ones I’d tried before – using canned tomatoes. Canned?!? I can honestly say that I never in my life thought I would put a can of “Ro-Tel” in my shopping cart, let alone two… I guess there’s a first time for everything… Now that I know the secret of the can, I can adapt this salsa recipe into pretty much endless variations (and now, so can you).
It makes a lot though – so invite some friends over to share. You need them or else you will eat it… all of it. You will just black out and wake up with an empty salsa container and no chips… you poor thing, you. You don’t even know what you’re in for… Congratulations on your new crack salsa addiction. 🙂
Restaurant-Style Salsa – Adapted from PW
- 1 can (28 Ounce) Whole Tomatoes With Juice
- 1-2 cans (10 Ounce) Rotel (diced Tomatoes And Green Chilies) OR if you are like my sister and are afraid of heat – you can just add 2 cans of diced tomatoes – no chiles!
- 1 small onion, roughly chopped
- 2 cloves Garlic, Minced
- 1/2 jalapeno, chopped (optional)
- 1/4 tsp Sugar
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 1/4 tsp ground cumin (I used a little less)
- 1/2 C cilantro
- 1/2 lime, juiced
1. Throw everything in the blender, then process to desired consistency. Done-zo!
2. Salt & Pepper to taste, if you think it needs it.
Ok, that’s basically it, but since I like to make life more difficult and am maybe medium control-freak, I put the tomatoes only from the can of whole tomatoes, and reserved the liquid so that I could adjust the salsa to be as thick (or thin) as I wanted. Process without the liquid – then add the liquid in as you see fit (if you think it needs it)
Also, if you do ONLY canned tomatoes, you can use fresh peppers of any kind to your liking – which is better to control taste and heat than using Rotel