This is my favorite salsa and a must whenever I make Mexican food or want to snack on tortilla chips.
6 medium to large tomatoes or one 28oz can of tomatoes
1 large onion, quartered
half a head of garlic (break apart the cloves but do not take the skin off)
chilies (dried, fresh, or canned)
Note about chilies:
The amount you need will vary according to what type you are using and how spicy you want the salsa. I suggest experimenting with different types of chilies to get different flavors and see which one you like best. My favorite chilies for this salsa are canned chipotle chilies, which, if transferred into a jar, stay good for a long time (and will suffice for many salsas).
1. Put the onion, garlic, and fresh tomatoes into an un-oiled frying pan over high heat. If using dried or fresh chilies, take the seeds out and put into frying pan as well. If using canned tomatoes and chilies, leave to the side for use later.
2. Stir occasionally, but allow everything to get slightly burnt.
3. After everything is nicely roasted, remove everything from the pan. Take the skin off of the garlic and the tomatoes (when they are roasted, the skin should come off easily).
4. Place half of the tomatoes (fresh or canned) into the blender with the onions and garlic. Make sure not to blend for too long, a slightly chunky salsa is better than one resembling a smooth pasta sauce. Pour into a bowl.
5. Blend the rest of the tomatoes and the chilies (start off with a conservative amount; you can always add more later) until smooth. This time you want it completely smooth so as to ensure that you have no surprise pieces of chili. Pour into the bowl as well and mix everything together.
6. Add salt as needed. If you are not happy with the spiciness, pour a bit of the salsa back into the blender and add more chilies, then mix back into the rest of the salsa, until you are happy with the result.
