[brighidsdaughter]

4 lbs or 1 kilo tomatoes
1 medium onion, sliced thick
4 fresh jalapeno chilies
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tblsp. vegetable oil

Core the tomatoes & place in a baking tin. Broil until skin is blackened in spots. Turn, and continue broiling until blackened and very soft. Set aside to cool. Oil the chilies lightly. Place onions and chilies on a baking sheet and broil until blackened, turning once. It's not necessary for the onion slices to be completely tender. Set aside to cool. Stem the chilies and seed if desired.

Heat the oil in a large skillet and sweat the garlic until tender but not browned. Puree the cooked vegetables and any accumulated juices, as well as the blackened bits. I like a puree that still has some texture. Add the puree to the garlic and simmer, uncovered, until salsa is of desired consistency. Add salt to taste.

This rustic salsa is good with tortilla chips, eggs, or spooned over grilled meat. It freezes well.

Notes:
Tomatoes should be as uniform in size as possible so they cook evenly. If tomatoes are not in season, roma or plum tomatoes usually have more flavor than round ones.

Adjust amount of chilies to taste and type available. Most of the heat in chilies is in the seeds and veins. If you aren't used to handling chilies, rubber gloves will protect your fingers from the capsaicin.

Alternatively, vegetables may be blackened on a charcoal or propane grill.

[brighidsdaughter]

addendum:
You might want to pump up the tomato flavor by adding a cup of tinned tomato sauce if the only tomatoes available are the tasteless out-of-season ones.