Celebrate the Last of Summer with Wood-Grilled Tomato Salsa

Sydney Mondry
Updated


Credit: Getty

The season of squash, pears, and potatoes is right around the corner, but we're holding on to our precious tomatoes for dear life. Cooked into a tomato sauce, sliced up in an omelet, baked into a tart, and even eaten whole like an apple, we can't get enough of this summertime delicacy. This week, we're following the lead of Tim Cushman, chef and owner of N.Y.C. restaurants Covina and O Ya, and whipping up his Wood-Grilled, Fresh Tomato Salsa. "It's great on everything--grilled fish, burgers, hot dogs, steak, pork, chicken, and of course served with guacamole and chips," says Cushman. "There's so much flavor and it's so easy to make." Read on below for the recipe.

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Wood-Grilled, Fresh Garden Tomato Salsa

Ingredients
1 lb fresh, from the garden tomatoes
2 oz jalape?os
1 1/2 tsp sea or kosher salt
1 tsp white vinegar
1/2 tsp granulated sugar
Olive oil to coat
Optional: cilantro to taste lime juice to taste, chopped grilled onion to taste, 10 g roasted garlic

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Directions
1. Light grill to hot. Be sure to brush the grates well and rub olive oil on to the grates with a thick pile of paper towels to avoid the food sticking to it.
2. Wash and dry tomatoes and jalape?os, and lightly rub them with olive oil.
3. Place the tomatoes and jalape?os on the grill. Char them on all sides well. The tomatoes may stick a little bit, but do your best to keep them in one piece and cook until the juices start to bubble under the skin. Don't worry if the skin splits, but do your best to keep them in tact. Cook the jalape?os until they're charred and start to soften.
4. Remove from the grill. Cut stems off jalape?os and the core out of the tomatoes and discard both.
5. While still warm, either chop them by hand or run them through a food processor separately until a coarse chop consistency is achieved. Retain all tomato juice for the salsa; you may also want to add a little water if the tomatoes aren't juicy enough.
6. Place chopped tomatoes, jalape?os, and all remaining ingredients in a bowl and mix. Adjust salt, vinegar, and sugar to your taste.
7. Best enjoyed warm or room temp.