Fire-Roasted Cherry Tomato Salsa – Tastily Teasing Forward

Sorry to spoil the surprise, but I just had to give away the fact that this delicious fire-roasted cherry tomato salsa was created to go alongside some pork carnitas we'll be posting next. They made such an incredible pairing, I was tempted to post it all together, but then I remembered it was Friday, and there was a baseball game coming on.

Speaking of which, whether you end up making the carnitas or not, this gorgeous salsa would shine on any big-game snack table. The fire-roasting brings out a tremendous amount of flavor, and provides just the right touch of smoky goodness. I'm sure your friends are more than happy with the jarred stuff, but once in a while it's nice to see if they're paying attention.

You'll want the flame of your broiler (or electric heating element) about 3-4 inches above the food, which may or may not be how far away your top rack is. If it's too close, just use the next rack down, and use a pan like I did in the video to get it to the correct height.

By the way, I know eating "burned" foods mean ingesting carcinogenic materials, but I don't care. This is no different than eating grill marks on a steak, or the crispy blackened ends on a brisket, and I'm not about to stop eating those things, so why would a few spoons of this scare me?

Anyway, stay tuned for the pork carnitas video, and in the meantime, I hope you give this fire-roasted cherry tomato salsa a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredient for about 2 cups of salsa:

  • 2 tsp olive oil
  • 1 generous pint cherry tomatoes (Sweet 100’s if you can find them)
  • 1 yellow onion, roughly chopped
  • 8 whole cloves garlic, unpeeled
  • 3 jalapenos, sliced
  • juice of a lime, or to taste
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • cayenne to taste
  • pinch dried oregano
  • 1/4 tsp dried cumin
  • packed 1/3 cup fresh cilantro leaves
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