Pico de Gallo

Todd’s Fresh Salsa (called “pico de gallo” by those in the know)

8 Roma tomatoes
4 tomatillos
1/2 jalapeno
1/2 yellow onion
1 cup cilantro
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper
juice of 1/2 lime

Roma tomatoes are much better for salsa than the big round tomatoes are. Roma tomatoes have more “meat” to them and less water. My mother loves this recipe but has found she doesn’t like tomatillos very much, so she makes this salsa without them and puts in a couple extra tomatoes instead. Frankly, tomatillos don’t add a whole lot of flavor, but are a little tangy and add some green to offset the red from the tomatoes. If you can’t find tomatillos in your part of the world, this recipe will still be good without them. But you MUST have Roma tomatoes, not the kind you slice for hamburgers.

Rinse the tomatoes and skin and rinse the tomatillos. Skin the onion. Rinse the cilantro in cold water using a colander. Cut the stem ends off the tomatoes, then cut them each in half lengthwise. Cut the tomatillos in half lengthwise, too. Throw them all in a food processor that has wide blades and is turned off. Cut the onion into 1″ cubes and toss those into the food processor along with the jalapeno and salt and pepper.

Set the food processor for the lowest setting and hit the Pulse button. It’s important to avoid using a high speed or letting it go too long. If you do, you’ll end up with very finely chopped salsa, which is runny and doesn’t impress your guests. So, just hit that Pulse button a few times until everything’s broken up a bit. Now, put in the cilantro and squeeze the lime juice in.

Hit the food processor a few more times until everything’s mixed together, with chunks of about 1/4″ in size. Put it in a bowl and stir it around a little, before putting in the fridge for half an hour or so. When it’s time to eat, stir it around a little as it has a tendency to settle.

Don’t make it more than about 3 hours before you want to eat it. This salsa is incredibly yummy when fresh, but loses its excitement value (which comes from the pungency of the fresh cilantro) fairly quickly. So, it doesn’t make good leftovers. But that’s fine because you’ll never have any left over, anyhow. People chow down on this stuff.

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