Pico de gallo, also called salsa fresca, is a fresh uncooked type of salsa. It is generally a name given to any of a variety of sauces made from sweet fruits, tomatoes, tomatillos, avocados, and chilies.
I usually cook and can several dozens of my sweet corn salsa each year, but that only lasts so long. Being early in the season I didn’t have enough tomatoes in my garden to do the 20+ quart batches of my favorite corn salsa recipe so I had to improvise. Normally I pass right over Pico at my favorite Mexican joints because it doesn’t have enough flavor or enough heat. This is my solution to remedy both – its got the great flavor from the fresh tomatoes and a little heat to pass for a decent salsa.
Recipe
Yield: 3 Quarts
Prep time: 20 minutes
Ingredients
12 tomatoes (2 regular, 10 Roma)
2 cups sweet onion, like Walla-Walla
4-6 Anaheim peppers
3 jalapenos
4 tsp salt
2 1/2-3 tbsp lemon juice
2 garlic cloves, minced
Stem and seed the peppers. Always wear gloves when handling hot peppers to avoid burning sensitive skin or getting it in your eyes. Disposable, food-safe gloves are just fine.
Separately cut the peppers, onions, tomatoes separately into halves or quarters to fit into your Salsa Maker or food processor. You can use an electric one, but most just end up puree-ing the tomatoes. I’ve had several manual food processors over the years and the Norpro one seems to be the best. I actually bought a few last time just in case they stopped making them!
Chop up all ingredients in the food processor. It works best to keep the tomatoes a little chunky so its easy to scoop. Mix all the ingredients in a medium or large bowl and chill for 1 hour.
Note: This goes great w/ the Tostitos Hint of Lime or Artisan-style chips.