The Saturday farmer’s market down the street from me in Oakland has been bursting with produce. They still have an abundance of vegetables I consider the product of high summer such as summer squash, peppers, basil, and tomatoes. But, in addition, the stalls are filling with bright colored winter squash and pumpkins. The colors are intoxicating. I couldn’t resist buying a bunch of different peppers to make a recipe I saw on-line for Hot Green Chili Sauce. This sauce is thick and spreadable, not watery at all. I’m thinking of using it with scrambled eggs this coming Sunday morning, on a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch this week, and with tostadas for dinner on Tuesday night. This sauce could quickly become a staple at our house! I plan to make a large batch next weekend and stock it in the freezer for the middle of winter.
The following is adapted from a recipe on the blog “Tasty Plan”. If you haven’t had a chance to check it out, you should do so. They have the most amazing photographs; I’d like to literally eat the screen of my computer!
Feel free to change this recipe to match the peppers you have on hand, or may still have in your garden. Ideally you want a mix with hot peppers and sweet peppers. But, there is no reason you couldn’t use mostly sweet. The mix of flavors from a variety of peppers is what makes this sauce interesting.
Hot Green Chili Spread (makes about 2 cups)
Hot Green Chili Spread
- 2 jalapeno peppers
- 2 serrano peppers
- 10 shishito peppers
- 1 habanero pepper
- 1 anaheim pepper
- 5 small green, yellow or red sweet peppers – mix is fine
- 6 cloves of garlic
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- salt – kosher or sea
- 2 cups of cilantro
- 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon of sugar
Wash and dry the peppers. Cut off the stems and remove the seeds. If you have sensitive skin you may want to consider wearing gloves while you handle the hot ones; be careful not to touch your eyes. Slice the peppers and garlic thinly.
Add 2 tablespoons of oil to a skillet. When hot, add the peppers, garlic and about a teaspoon of salt. Sauté for 5-10 minutes until the peppers are just beginning to soften, you want to keep some of the freshness of the chilies and garlic. Add the sugar and vinegar to the pan, then the cilantro; remove the pan from the heat.
Put the contents of the skillet into a food processor and pulse until smooth. 
Although smooth-ish, my food processor doesn’t produce an entirely smooth puree. That’s ok, a little texture is nice.
Brunch – Scrambled eggs with kale, sausage, parmesan and Hot Green Chili Spread
See my next post for Tostadas Three Ways with Hot Green Chili Spread.