RED HOT RICELLA SALSA

So as with every Christmas I got a great selection of new cookbooks as presents. Two of my favorites were Nigella Lawson's new offering and Rick Stein's Road To Mexico. Both are fabulous and both also contained a recipe for a roast tomato salsa. I didn't know which one to try first so I decided to bang both the recipe's together to create a "Ricella" salsa (see what I did there!). I've taken the red peppers from Nigella's recipe and combined them with the lime and coriander leaves from Rick's and the combination really works well.

As this recipe is an adaptation of two recipes I won't talk about how you can change it as that might veer too close to the originals. What I will say is that if you want to buy either of Nigella or Rick's books to get the original recipes then click on their names and go straight through to Amazon to buy them. They have loads of other amazing recipes in there too so I promise you it will be well worth it.

Recipe below does make a fairly hefty amount of salsa.This is spicy salsa though so this is not a recipe for the fainthearted. Use what you want first time round and then once the salsa is fully cooled you can keep it in a bowl wrapped in cling film and pop it in the fridge for a few days if you plan to enjoy it over the next couple of days. Alternatively, you can freeze the salsa and keep for about 2-3 months to take out and defrost if you want to keep it for a later date. 

Red Hot Tomato, Pepper And Chili Salsa

8 Medium Tomatoes Chopped In Half

2 Deseeded Red Peppers Chopped In Half

1 Peeled Red Onion Chopped Into 4 Wedges

3 Whole Chilies

4 Peeled Garlic Cloves

3 Tbsp Olive Oil

Salt And Pepper To Season

Juice Of 1 Lime

Handful Of Chopped Fresh Coriander Leaves

1. Start by turning your oven on to 200 degrees (180 fan).
2. Chuck the tomatoes, red peppers, chilies and garlic into a large baking tray and arrange so everything is roughly in one layer. 
3. Drizzle over the olive oil, sprinkle over salt and pepper to season and then pop into oven to roast for 30 minutes until everything is soft and slightly charred. Remove from the oven and leave to cool slightly.
4. Remove the stalks from the chilies and tip the roasted veg into a bowl. Blitz with a stick blender to your desired consistency. 
5. Add in the lime juice and coriander leaves and mix everything together. Taste and add more seasoning, lime or coriander if you think it’s needed.

Transfer to a bowl and top with some more fresh coriander leaves and your salsa is now ready to serve. Grab yourself some tortilla chips for dipping or spoon it on top of nachos if you like. However you decide to enjoy your vibrant red salsa just make sure that you get ready for that big punch of chili heat which comes through once the slight smokiness of the charred fresh tomatoes and peppers has subsided. I love how you get a nice juicy chunk of veg every now and then too. This is so much better than any shop bought salsa you might find on the shelves and is so quick and simple to make as well. Both Rick and Nigella would be proud!