Homemade salsa

SERVES 4 AS A SNACK

This is my basic salsa, to which you can add other ingredients – garlic, olives, beans, corn, anchovies and the like – to jazz it up and match it to other dishes. As it is, this is a great accompaniment to barbecued pork chops, chicken, turkey steaks, swordfish or anything else you may think of … so when you make it, make extra. This salsa contains pickled jalapeños, which you can find in jars in the Mexican section in the supermarket; as far as I’m concerned they are a must-have item in the fridge. One tablespoon of chopped jalapeño will give a nice heat, 2 tablespoons will get you sweating!

2 large tomatoes (quite firm ones)

½ large avocado (not too soft; it needs to be firm enough to maintain its shape)

50 g (1¾ oz/¹/₃ cup) finely diced red onion

15 g (½ oz/¼ cup) chopped fresh coriander (cilantro)

1 tablespoon chopped pickled jalapeño chillies, or 2 tablespoons if you like it hot!

2 tablespoons lime juice

1 tablespoon olive oil

corn chips, to serve

We only want the flesh of the tomato and we want that flesh to be firm, so choose tomatoes that are quite firm. Cut a cross in the bottom of each tomato, put them in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Leave for a couple of minutes then, using tongs, remove one tomato and peel the skin away, starting from the cross you cut in the bottom. Put the tomato in a bowl of cold water, then peel the second tomato and place it in the cold water. (If you leave the tomatoes in the hot water too long they will start to cook and go soft and mushy. Putting them in the cold water stops the cooking process by zapping heat from them.)

Pat the tomatoes dry with paper towels. Cut them in half, then cut each half into thirds. Using a sharp knife or your fingers, cut or scrape away the seeds so that only the petal of flesh is left. (You can use the tomato seeds for a sauce, or put them in a salad.) Dry the excess moisture from the flesh with paper towels. Slice the segments thinly lengthways, then cut them across into small dice (you should have about 1 cup). Place in a glass bowl.

Dice the avocado the same size as the tomato and add to the bowl. Add the onion, coriander, jalapeño, lime juice and olive oil and give it all a really good but gentle mix. Taste, and if you feel the need, add a little salt, remembering that corn chips are also lightly salted. Serve straight away, with corn chips.