Roasted Tomato and Tomatillo Salsa

On Cinco de Mayo my good friend Tim hosted a margarita and Mexican food party. He served shrimp, chicken and beef fajitas marinated in tequila and lime as well as a delicious torilla macaroni and cheese casserole. Tim is a master at guacamole and so he whipped some of that up while I prepared a roasted tomato and tomatillo salsa with my friend Nick. As usual, we just kind of made this one up as we went along. The end result was a smoky and deliciously incredible salsa that I highly recommend trying.

- 10 Roma tomatoes
- 5 tomatillos (outer leafy skin should be removed)
- 5 cloves of roasted garlic**
- 1/2 red onion, diced
- 1/2 cup of cilantro, chopped
- The juice of 1 lime
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Place the tomatoes and tomatillos onto a cookie sheet and roast at 350 degrees for about 1 hour. Check on the tomatoes periodically and turn once or twice during the cooking process. To roast the garlic tent the cloves (outer skin removed) with a piece of foil and a little bit of olive oil. Close up the foil and place in the oven at 350 for about 30-45 minutes. Remove and set aside to cool. You can do the tomatoes, tomatillos and garlic at the same time. Once the tomatoes and tomatillos are done remove from the oven and set aside to cool.

While the tomatoes are roasting you can chop your onions and cilantro and toss into a mixing bowl. Once the tomatoes and tomatillo have cooled cut them in half and remove the seeds (as best as possible). Chop and place into the bowl. Also add the caramelized baked on goop (I could not think of a better word) from the cookie sheet. Mash the garlic, juice the lime and place both of these into the mixing bowl. Mix well, add salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste and serve.