This uncooked tomato sauce is a staple in the Mexican kitchen and is often served in small bowls and placed on tables as a condiment. It is a simple sauce to prepare, just be careful not to overprocess because it’s meant to be a rustic sauce with a coarse texture.

　　

Ingredients

makes 2 cups

　　1/4 medium red onion, quartered

　　1 large jalapeño, stemmed and quartered

　　1/2 cup lightly packed cilantro leaves and tender stems

　　Juice of 1 lime

　　1 teaspoon salt, plus more as needed

　　4 (about 1 pound) plum tomatoes, cored and quartered

　　

Puree the Ingredients

Step 1

Combine all of the ingredients in the order given in a blender and pulse until pureed. You want the sauce to be a bit chunky, so make sure not to overprocess.

　　

Adjust Seasoning

Step 2

Taste for seasoning and adjust if needed.

　　

Serve or Store

Step 3

Transfer to a serving bowl if using right away, or transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate if storing.

　　

COOKING NOTES

Step 4

INGREDIENTS

　　

Step 5

Cilantro

　　

Step 6

There are times when you may want to pick cilantro leaves off their tender stems, but that is not necessary in this recipe since all of the ingredients are going to be pureed. In fact, cilantro stems are very flavorful and should be used whenever possible.

　　

Step 7

TECHNIQUES

　　

Step 8

Pureeing

　　

Step 9

In order to prevent the sauce from becoming frothy, make sure that the tomato is the last ingredient to be added to the blender. I also recommend pulsing, as opposed to continuous pureeing, for the same reason.

　　

Step 10

ADVANCE PREPARATION

　　

Step 11

This sauce can be made up to a day in advance. After 24 hours, the sauce will take on an acidic flavor.

　　Reprinted with permission from Simply Mexican by Lourdes Castro, © April 2009 Ten Speed Press. Buy the full book at Amazon or Bookshop.