ROASTED TOMATO OR TOMATILLO SALSA

Roasted Tomato or Tomatillo Salsa image

Yield makes about 2 cups

Number Of Ingredients 7

2 serrano chiles
2 large garlic cloves
4 medium-size ripe tomatoes, or 4 large tomatillos
1 small onion
Salt
1 lime
Handful of cilantro leaves, chopped

Steps:

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Put the whole chiles and the garlic cloves, unpeeled in the pan. Core the tomatoes and cut them in half. If cooking tomatillos, remove the husks and cut the tomatillos in half. Add the tomatoes or tomatillos to the pan, and cook the vegetables for 10 minutes or so, until they start to soften and brown. Turn them over to brown on the other side, and cook until tender throughout, then remove from the pan.
Squeeze the soft garlic cloves out of the skins. Remove the stems from the serranos and slice the chiles. Combine the garlic and chiles in the mortar and grind to a paste. Add the tomatoes, with or without the skins, and mash them to blend thoroughly with the garlic and chiles. Peel and finely dice the onion, put it in a small strainer, and rinse in water to crisp the onion and take away some of the raw bite. Stir the onion into the salsa and season with salt, a squeeze of lime juice, and the chopped cilantro.