Salsa Roja

Ingredients:

1 - 1.1 kg roma tomatoes, halved and cored (16 tomatoes)
16 g dried ancho chili pieces, stem and seeds removed (2 chilies)
25 g chipotle chili in adobo sauce, minced (1 chili)
100 g onion quarters, root intact (½ onion)
115 g jalepeño (2 jalepeños)
10 g garlic, unpeeled (2 cloves)
70 g chopped cilantro (140 ml)
8.6 ml salt

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1. Process ancho pieces in blender until finely chopped, about 60 seconds. Add chipotle and one-quarter of tomatoes. Process on low speed, scraping down sides of blender jar if necessary, until tomatoes are finely chopped and ancho pieces are moistened, about 45 seconds. Let mixture sit for 15 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, line rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Adjust oven rack 4 inches from broiler element and heat broiler. Place remaining tomatoes skin side down on prepared sheet. Add onion and jalapeño and broil until onion and jalapeño are blackened and tomatoes are beginning to turn spotty brown, 4 to 6 minutes. Flip onion and jalapeño, add garlic, and broil until all vegetables are blackened, 3 to 4 minutes.

3. Transfer jalapeño and garlic to cutting board; let cool. When cool enough to handle, peel garlic. Without peeling, stem and seed jalapeño. Add tomatoes, onion, jalapeño, garlic, cilantro, and salt to blender and process until smooth, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and additional chipotle to taste; process until smooth. Transfer to serving bowl or squeeze bottle.

Notes:
Makes almost 1 L of salsa.