Pico de Gallo

On my recent trip to Mexico, I tried freshly made pico de gallo for the first time ever and fell in love with the bright flavours.

This easy pico de gallo recipe requires throwing a handful of diced ingredients into a large bowl and stirring. That's it!

The hardest part of the recipe is cutting up the vegetables, which really doesn't take that long, and if your pieces aren't all the same size, it doesn't matter. It will still be delicious and full of fresh flavour!

The snack bar at the resort served their pico de gallo with tortilla chips and guacamole, but I've found that it's also tasty with tacos, quesadillas, burritos or used as a topping for fish, chicken or steak.

(I've been told that it's tasty with eggs too, but I haven't tried that yet.)

It can also sometimes be referred to as Salsa Fresca which translates to "fresh sauce", which makes sense.

I think in North America we tend to think of a smooth or pureed liquid as a sauce, but that's not always the case.

No matter what you call it, this simple salsa is at peak deliciousness when made with ripe tomatoes.

Use the best quality tomatoes that you can get your hands on.

Firm tomatoes work best in this recipe, because they hold their shape when diced. Roma tomatoes are a good option, and so are cherry tomatoes.

I used juicy Campari tomatoes when I photographed this recipe because I had some really nice ones on hand and wanted to use them up.

The type of tomato doesn't really matter, so long as it's a tomato that you enjoy eating raw, has a sweet flavour, and isn't overripe/mushy.

Some people like to salt their tomatoes (which pulls the moisture out of them), let them sit for a while, then drain them. This can help improve the texture of the tomatoes and prevent your salsa from becoming soggy.

That being said, I don't think this is completely necessary. If you're in a rush, you can skip this step.

Just know that if you put your leftover pico de gallo in the fridge (in an airtight container, please), the salt you seasoned the dish with will pull the moisture out and you'll have a pool of liquid at the bottom of the bowl.

You will need to drain the mixture (and probably re-adjust the seasoning) before eating it again, but it will still be tasty.

I managed to find serrano peppers in the produce section of my local Walmart, but if you can't find them, you can use jalapeño peppers instead.

Keep in mind, though, that a serrano is a spicier pepper than a jalapeño.

You may want to leave the seeds and membranes in the jalapeño peppers to get more heat out of them, whereas doing so with the serrano peppers might make the pico de gallo too spicy for you. It really depends on how spicy you want the final dish to be.

I make my homemade pico de gallo recipe when I want a quick and healthy snack, or when I need to use up leftover bits in my fridge.

If you look closely at the photos in this blog post, you'll notice that there are bits of both red and white onion in my salsa.

I had half of a white onion leftover from culinary school, and a piece of red onion in my crisper, so I chopped up both and threw them in.

Although white onion is more traditional for this recipe, red onion works just as well.

If you're not a fan of eating raw onion (I'm not), you can soak the chopped onion in a bowl with ice water in 10 minutes or so, then strain before using. This helps to reduce the "bite" of the onion.

The lime juice in the recipe will also help to balance out the sharpness of the onions. It kind of pickles them, which makes the onions more palatable to eat raw.

As for the seasoning, it's really up to you. I've seen pico de gallo recipes that are made without fresh lime juice, but I personally really enjoy the brightness that a squeeze of lime adds to the dish.

You will also want to add enough salt to bring out the flavours of the vegetables. Start with a small amount of salt, and then taste the mixture. Then add more if you need to.

I use sea salt in my kitchen, but if you use kosher salt or table salt, the amount of salt that you need will be different from the amount that I needed. Plus, you may need to adjust to suit your taste.

My Mexican friend likes to add a garlic clove and black pepper to his mix, which is also yummy. It reminds me of a Caribbean dish called chow.

As with all recipes, experiment with this and figure out what flavour combinations you enjoy most!

I'd love to hear what you come up with, so leave a comment below after you make the recipe!

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