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Pico de Gallo
At a recent cooking class I conducted at Phillip’s Mushrooms in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania I made Maitake mushroom tacos topped with Pico de Gallo . I needed some kind of tomato component to go with the tacos and didn’t want to use typical salsa. I decided to make a Pico de Gallo and use tomatoes from my garden since I have so many this year. Instead of using regular tomatoes I used Sungold and Sweet Million cherry varieties that are known for their sweetness.
I also had a new heirloom variety named “Juliet” that is similar to a roma tomato but half the size. It looks like a roma and tastes similar too. What I really love about the Juliet is the amount of bright red tomatoes I pick every day from my one-and-only bush. It really puts out the fruit! Into the mix it went in my trial version with the usual chopped onion, jalapeno, cilantro and lime. It was outstanding. It lit up the Maitake tacos and paired well with the Asiago cheese I grated and melted over the mushroom layer. With fresh arugula on the next layer the Pico De Gallo made for a lovely looking taco that everyone loved.
A few days after teaching the class I had some more tomatoes to use up and made a new batch the same way as the first. This time I served it with tortilla chips, avocados on the side and a glass of Spanish rosé. The sweetness of the cherry tomatoes made the Pico pair perfectly with the chips and wine. What a great summer appetizer spread it made.
chop chop
You can probably buy the Sungolds and Sweet Million tomatoes at most any farmer’s market in the U.S or in a specialty grocery store. As for the Juliets, I think they are quite rare and you would need to use roma tomatoes. What sets this apart from other Pico de Gallo recipes is the sweet cherry tomatoes. If you can’t find the ones I used just get the sweetest ones you can find and it should turn out fine.
serve with your favorite summer cooler
I believe this would be a great side dish for any Mexican type food whether it’s burritos, tacos, nachos or tostadas. Give it a try and please leave comments on how it turned out.
Pico de Gallo
1 cup whole Sun Gold tomatoes
1 cup whole Sweet Million tomatoes
1 cup whole Juliet tomatoes, or roma tomatoes
1/2-3/4 cup yellow onion diced small
1 cup fresh cilantro
2 jalapeños chopped, or green bell pepper if you don’t want it spicy
1-2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/2 teaspoon salt, optional
Cut Sun Golds and Sweet Million tomatoes in quarters, then cut in half. *
Dice Juliets or romas.
Chop cilantro.
Add everything together in a 2-3 quart mixing bowl tossing until distributed equally. Toss fairly gentle so you don’t break down the tomatoes too much.
As a salsa it serves about 6-8. For a taco topping this will tap about 30 tacos.
Note:
I like to cut the cherry tomatoes in quarters then lay them skin side down in a row of four pieces and cut in half.
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