A few weeks ago, I was looking for ingredients for a delicious salad a friend had made that I wanted to reproduce. One of the ingredients she’d used in the dressing was “Chipotles in Adobo Sauce”. I remember this well from my vegetarian days and hadn’t purchased these smokey peppers in the classic red sauce for years. At the grocery store, I found a couple of different brands and turned them over to read the ingredients. To my horror, they were chock full of corn syrup and industrial seed oils. No thank you.
This is where it comes in SUPER handy to be married to a chef. I came home and shared my chipotle woes with my hubby, Chef James. He generously agreed to come up with an alternative for me, and since I can’t be the only one who doesn’t want seed oils and corn syrup in my dinner, here it is for you, too.
This recipe makes about 1.5 cups of Chipotle adobo purée – which is far more than you will need for a single recipe. I knew it would go off faster than I could use it, so I put the leftovers in a silicone muffin tray and froze them in individual servings. Now I’ve got a bag in the freezer with these frozen chunks of chipotle goodness I can use whenever the mood strikes.
Since this ingredient may not be something you’re familiar with, I am also sharing a spin on one of my old favorites – I turned an old Three Sisters Burrito recipe I used to make as a vegetarian (now loaded with things that I don’t eat any longer) into a delicious Three Sisters Turkey Hash. It was a huge hit among all family members and the kids gobbled it down two days in a row with delight. The recipe for this can be found here.
Enjoy!
Chipotle Adobo Purée
Makes 1.5-2 cups
Ingredients:
- 2-5 dried chipotle peppers (more peppers for more spice)
- 1 onion, rough chopped
- 1 Tablespoon fat (ghee, lard, avocado oil, or your choice)
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon granulated garlic
- 1 medium carrot, rough chopped
- 1 14-oz can fire-roasted tomatoes
- 1 Tablespoon white vinegar
- While you’re preparing the rest of the sauce, soak the peppers in approximately 1 cup of warm water.
- In a heavy skillet, sauté onions in the fat of choice, sprinkled with sea salt and granulated garlic. When the onion is translucent (about 3-4 mins), add carrot and continue to sauté until just soft.
- When onions and carrots are cooked, add fire-roasted tomatoes. Strain the chipotle peppers to drain the water and add peppers to the skillet. Stir well and then let cook on low for 5-10 minutes to combine all flavors.
- Purée the sauce either in a blender or using a handheld immersion blender, adding the white vinegar at this point. If the sauce is too thick, add water until you’ve achieved the desired consistency. (We added approx. ¼ cup when we made it)
- Use immediately or store in the fridge for use within the week. If you’re going to use it over time and want it to keep for more than a week, use a silicone muffin tray or ice cube tray to freeze individual servings, and then store it in a freezer bag.
Let me know if you try this recipe in the comments below.
