Last week for our anniversary we had tacos – and since we are no longer strictly adhering to our “unprocessed foods only” pledge that we took in 2011, I bought us some traditional bottled taco sauce. And I didn't mind it, I even enjoyed it. But it did make me curious to try to make some myself. I took ingredients from around the kitchen and blended them into a perfectly spicy mixture that will be great as a finishing sauce for tacos, chicken, beef, pork or even just a cheese quesadilla.

Homemade Taco Sauce

3 tomatoes

1 medium onion

1 tablespoon olive oil

Salt and pepper

1/3 of a dried ancho chili

1/3 of a dried chipotle chili

½ cup of cilantro (including stems)

3 tablespoons of white vinegar

2 tablespoons of reserved cooking water from the re-hydrated peppers

1 teaspoon of cayenne

1 teaspoon of paprika

1 teaspoon of cumin

½ teaspoon of oregano

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut the ends off of the tomatoes, and peel and halve the onion. Place on a large rimmed sheet pan and drizzle with olive oil. Add salt and pepper and mix well to ensure the vegetables are coated in the oil. Bake for 20 minutes, flipping once halfway through.

In the meantime, put the chipotle and ancho chili in a small bowl and cover them with water. Microwave on high for 2 minutes.

Remove the vegetables from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes. Pull the skins off of the tomatoes, and place them in a blender or food processor along with the onion, ancho chili, chipotle chili, cilantro, vinegar, chili water, cayenne, paprika, cumin and oregano. Blend until smooth.

Makes approximately 1 ½ cups of hot sauce.

(Photos by Launie Kettler)

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