Shake the small, dried medium-hot cascabel chile, and its seeds rattle (in Spanish, cascabel means rattle). Woodsy and smoky, it is a wonderful choice for this richly flavored salsa made with roasted tomatoes and garlic, toasted pumpkin seeds, and caramelized onion. Good with hearty meats from grilled beef to dark-fleshed game like buffalo.
Recipe information
Yield
makes 2 cups
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
In a skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over medium-high heat and sauté the diced onion until it begins to caramelize, about 5 minutes. In the jar of a blender, add the onion, tomatoes, cascabel chiles with their soaking water, garlic, pumpkin seeds, and salt and puree until smooth. Strain through a medium-mesh strainer.
Step 2
To refry, in a large, heavy nonstick skillet, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons oil over high heat until almost smoking. Pour in the puree at once, tilting the pan away from you as the puree will spatter; remove from the heat, stirring to blend. If necessary, refry the puree in batches; you want to refry no more than 1/2 inch of puree in the pan at one time.
