Thin Tomato Sauce (Caldillo de tomate)
Señora Leyva serves the caldillo with root-vegetable fritters like Yuca Fritters, but it’s also a great accompaniment to Seafood Frittata.
Ingredients
- 5 medium-sized ripe, juicy tomatoes about 1½ pounds
- ¼ cup árbol chiles or dried serrano chiles
- 1 medium-sized white onion
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 teaspoon powdered chicken stock base or 1 chicken bouillon cube, or 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 sprig fresh epazote or 1 teaspoon crumbled dried epazote, or 6-8 sprigs cilantro
Instructions
- Griddle-roast and peel the tomatoes, being sure to save all the juices. Set aside.
- Heat a small heavy skillet over very low heat. Add the chiles and toast for about 5 minutes, stirring often. When ready, they will sound hollow and should be brittle but not burned. Immediately pour the chiles into a blender and add the tomatoes and their juices with the onion, garlic, and stock base, bouillon cube, or salt. Process until smooth, occasionally stopping to scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula.
- In a medium saucepan, heat the oil over medium-high heat until rippling. Add the tomato mixture and epazote or cilantro. Reduce the heat to maintain a simmer, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until craters are bubbling up on the surface and the fat starts to separate, about 15 minutes. Serve hot.