Pico de Gallo Guacamole

Here’s a little something to go with your empanadas…pico de gallo guacamole. This stuff is so very good. Addicting, really. It’s hard to know whether to call this a salsa or a guacamole… it’s sort of a hybrid, I guess. Maybe technically it’s a salsa. I’m not very technical, so I’m calling it guacamole. It just speaks to me of the chunks of luscious avocado that really are the star of this show, and that makes me want to eat more of it, and that makes me happy, and that’s all that really matters here.

So to get going, you must start with a nice fresh poblano chile. You can use a couple of jalapenos if you prefer a hotter salsa, but I like using poblanos because you can use more chile without blowing the tops off everyone’s heads. To get the most flavor out of your chiles, you really must roast them. I have a small barbeque grill that I set over my gas burners on the stove, and I can roast several chiles at once without any problem. You can also roast them in the oven under the broiler and get pretty much the same effect.

After you’ve completely blackened your pepper, place it in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let it steam for about 15 minutes. Once cooled, the skin can be rubbed off, the seeds and inner membrane removed, and it’s ready to be chopped.

The only other important step to this is to rinse your chopped onions and let them drain dry before adding them to the salsa. This just makes the onion less pungent and dominant in the final product. The rest of the recipe is just a little chopping and assembling and waiting for the swooning. And swoon they will. It’s that good.

Printable Recipe

1 large juicy ripe tomato (about a cup total)

½ large white onion, small dice (about 1 cup total)

1 poblano chile

1 avocado, diced

Large handful cilantro, chopped

2T lime juice

1 T olive oil

¼ cup salsa verde (like Herdez)

1 ½ tsp salt (or to taste)

½ tsp pepper

Chop the onion and place in a strainer. Rinse under cold water and leave to drain.

Roast the poblano chile over direct flame, or under the broiler. After blackened, place in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Cool, remove the blackened skin, remove the seeds and membrane. Cut into small dice.

Cut the tomato in half horizontally. With your finger, clean out the seeds and set the halves cut side down on a paper towel to drain. Chop into small dice.

In a medium-sized bowl, place the drained chopped onion, chopped tomato, chopped cilantro and chopped poblano chile. Stir to combine. Add the lime juice, olive oil, salsa verde, salt and pepper. Stir well and then add the avocado. Mix and taste for salt.

Serve with tortilla chips.