Recipe: Pico de Gallo Norteño

Recipes

Posted by Adam Kuban, April 26, 2007 at 7:30 PM

We've been doing some research around the office on salsas (more on this later), trying various bottled brands to see which we like most. But nothing beats a bowl of the homemade stuff, so we thought we'd share one of our favorite recipes with you. It's an adaptation of Zarela Martínez's salsa cruda recipe from the book Food from My Heart.

Pico de Gallo Norteño
- makes about 4 cups -

Martínez cautions that the tomatoes you use need to be truly ripe and sweet and that you serve and eat this salsa immediately.

Ingredients
2 to 4 fresh chilies, either jalapeño or serrano, tops removed but not seeded

1 garlic clove, peeled

4 large ripe, red tomatoes, peeled but not seeded (about 2 1/2 pounds)

6 to 8 scallions with some of the green tops

1/4 cup loosely packed fresh cilantro leaves

1 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano, crumbled

Juice of 1 large lime

Salt, to taste

Procedure
1. Chop chilies very fine. Mince garlic. Coarsely chop tomatoes. Finely chop scallions and cilantro.

2. Place garlic, tomatoes, scallions, and cilantro in a large bowl. If tomatoes are dry and juiceless, gradually add up to 1/2 cup cold water to achieve a light salsa consistency. Stir to mix ingredients.

3. Add chilies gradually, sampling until you're happy with the heat. Add oregano, then lime juice. Add salt to taste.

4 Comments | Tags: Mexican, recipes, salsa, Serious Recipes

4 Comments:

The only thing this recipe needs is guacamole to be a truly norteno pico de gallo.

dksbook at 10:29AM on 04/27/07

Boy! That's sure not the way we do it around here! We would never, ever put water in pico de gallo. Maybe tomato juice if it were absolutely necessary, but I've never done it, or seen anyone else do it, either.

P.S. If you really want a great canned salsa (and you can find it,) I suggest Herdez brand Salsa Casera-- in the can. It's good in jars, too, which come in mild and medium versions. The cans only come in hot. You have to add cilantro if you want it.

Calichef at 3:57AM on 04/30/07

ok, lol. hm....
i'm pure mexican. there are so many ways to make pico de gallo, but nothing beats, this.
buy jalapeños, look for the ones with the veins outside on the skin.
tomatoes, white onions, cilantro and limes. (not lemons) cut up, not too big of chunks, mix in a bowl, add lime juice, and salt to taste. yumm.. pass the chips. another recipe i use for yummy hot salsa is:
buy canned whole peeled tomatoes, i use hunts brand,
cilantro, jalapeños, (again with veins) but the jalapenos, you will have to boil them until they get a lighter shade of green and are soft. add the canned tomatoes, a tear of the cilantro bunch, the cooked jalapeños, salt, a dash of pepper, and a pinch or two of garlic powder. blend in a blender. oh but here's the thing, dont blend completely. push the pulse quite a few times. why? well because we dont want a runny salsa, we want a chunky salsa. use it as dip with plain tortilla chips. hope you likes!!

sandra at 2:29PM on 05/05/07

oh, and i forgot to add i agree, WHO ADDS WATER TO PICO DE GALLO??

sandra at 2:30PM on 05/05/07

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