A pico de gallo made with homemade pickled peppers, fresh tomatoes, and a few chipotle flakes. A different take on chips and salsa.
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Pickled Peppers – If you haven’t made a jar of pickled peppers yet, you could easily use some store bought pickled peppers like pickled jalapeno or possibly pepperoncini. If the peppers you choose are really, really hot, then you might cut the amount in half, because chipotle flakes tend to be quite hot as well. To be on the safe side (if you like being safe), test the spiciness of both your chipotle and pickled peppers to determine how hot you want your pico de gallo to be and adjust the amount of each accordingly.
Chipotle Flakes – If you don’t have chipotle flakes, you could substitute chipotle powder or another “smoked” chile flake. A smoky chile works quite nicely with the acidity of the pickled peppers.
Draining the liquid – The use of fresh tomatoes yields a lot of liquid; therefore, draining the cut tomatoes reduces the amount of liquid at the bottom of the serving dish. However, you might want to wait and drain until right before serving. I like to reserve the seasoned liquid for another use, like adding to a soup, a bowl of beans or a pot of rice.
Recipe author: MJ of MJ's Kitchen