Green Tomato Salsa

The first frost came a little early this year. I had just cuddled up on the couch with our book club book, The Spirit Catches you and you Fall Down by Anne Fadiman (an excellent non-fiction book), when an alert went off on my cell phone. It was my Weather Bug app. telling me that tomorrow night was going to be below freezing. The next day I g-chatted my husband that we needed to get all the veggies out of the garden. He babies the 'maters' like they are his children- (eats 2-3 garden tomatoes a day) and didn't want to lose the whole crop to the frost.

I came home that afternoon to him in the back yard, chilly, pink-dimpled cheeks and a sock hat (one of my favorite Adam looks ever), rummaging through the garden. By the time he was finished harvesting, we had 4-5 grocery bags full of tomatoes at various stages of ripeness. (Tons of kale, zucchini, cucumber and peppers too.)

My lovely friend Emily invited us over for her friend Autumn's birthday. Autumn happens to write a fantastic food blog as well, called Autumn Stirs the Pot. I asked her how to make green tomato salsa, and she said to roast the tomatoes and then use them like you would in any other salsa. Seemed easy enough. So I decided to give it a try. 

Here is what I did, although, the garlic and jalapeno can be adjusted according to personal taste. 

Homegrown Green Tomato Salsa (yield 2 quart-sized mason jars filled to the brim)

• 3 lbs. green tomatoes
• 1 green bell pepper 
• 3 jalapeno peppers
• 5 cloves of garlic
• Olive Oil
• Salt 
• Pepper
• 1 medium red onion
• 1/2 tsp. cumin (to taste)
• 1/2 tsp. salt (to taste
• ** 1/4 c. to 1 cup cilantro (to taste. I left this out because Adam doesn't like cilantro. I know, right?!)

1. Preheat oven to 400.

2. Quarter the tomatoes. Halve and seed the jalapenos. Quarter the bell pepper. 

(<-- nail polish: OPI Russian Navy...)

3. Place the tomatoes, garlic, jalapenos and bell pepper on a baking sheet (or two) and drizzle with a good olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and pop in the oven. Bake 25-30 minutes, until the skins of the tomatoes have turned a little brown and they are sizzling and soupy.

4. Remove the tomatoes and let cool. 

5. In a food processor or VitaMix, add the onion (first), then the cilantro, then the roasted tomatoes, garlic and peppers. 
Work in batches if necessary. 

I pureed mine in a VitaMix for a more 'enchilada sauce' consistency, since I am making enchiladas for dinner :). 

If you want more of a 'salsa fresca' kind of texture, I would pulse it in a food processor until desired consistency is achieved. 

If you have to work in batches, make sure to add both batches to a big bowl and stir, so that all the ingredients get dispersed evenly.

6. Serve with chips (*can be stored in the fridge for months. It will thicken as it cools. If you want to change the consistency, just add water.)

Enjoy! xo, Amy