Spicy Corn Churros With Roasted Tomato Salsa Con Queso

⏱ 120 mins 🍽 6 serving(s) 🌶 mexican 🏷 Sauces

These Mexican-inspired churros are made with a cornmeal dough, fried until golden, and tossed in a chilli salt. They are served alongside two dips: a smooth, melted cheese queso and a robust salsa made from roasted tomatoes, chillies, and onion. The recipe requires some preparation, including making the dips and piping the dough, for a total time of 120 minutes. It yields enough for six people to enjoy as a sharing starter or snack.

Spicy Corn Churros With Roasted Tomato Salsa Con Queso

Ingredients

  • 6 dried cascabel chiles or 3 pasilla chiles, stemmed and seeds removed
  • 4 large tomatoes, cored
  • 2 fresno chilies, stemmed
  • 3/4 white onion, peeled, cut into wedges
  • 2 garlic cloves, peeled
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
  • kosher salt
  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 cups milk (or more)
  • 1/2 lb monterey jack cheese, grated
  • 1/2 lb cheddar cheese, grated (young medium or sharp)
  • 1 tablespoon chili powder
  • 2/3 cup milk
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup cornmeal
  • 3 large eggs
  • vegetable oil (for frying, about 12 cups)

Method

  1. You will need a pastry bag with a large closed star tip and a deep-fry thermometer.
  2. Set your oven to 350°. Toast the cascabel chillies until they smell fragrant and are lightly browned, which takes about 5 minutes. Take them off the baking sheet and allow them to cool.
  3. Turn the oven up to 450°. Place the tomatoes, fresno chillies and onion wedges on a clean rimmed baking sheet and roast until the skins brown and start to pull away from the flesh, for 30–35 minutes. Put these into a blender with the garlic, lime juice and 2 teaspoons of salt, then blend until smooth. Add the toasted cascabel chillies and blend again until they are coarsely chopped. Leave this salsa at room temperature until you are ready to serve.
  4. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan. Stir in the flour and cook for about 1 minute until combined. Whisk in the milk and keep cooking until the mixture boils and thickens, roughly 4 minutes. Lower the heat, then gradually add both grated cheeses, stirring constantly until fully melted and the queso is smooth. Add a little more milk if it appears too thick. Keep this warm.
  5. Note: Both the salsa and the queso can be prepared up to 2 days in advance. Store them covered in the fridge separately. Let the salsa come to room temperature before serving and gently reheat the queso until creamy.
  6. Attach the star tip to your pastry bag. In a small bowl, whisk together the chilli powder and 1 tablespoon of salt, then set this mixture aside.
  7. In a medium saucepan, bring the milk, butter, cumin, 1¼ teaspoon of salt and ½ cup of water to a simmer. Add the flour and cornmeal all at once and mix vigorously with a wooden spoon until a dough forms, about 30 seconds. Let the dough rest in the pan for 10 minutes to allow the cornmeal to hydrate, then transfer it to a stand mixer bowl or a large bowl.
  8. Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment on a medium-low setting, beat the eggs into the dough one by one, ensuring each is fully incorporated before adding the next. The dough may seem separated initially but keep beating, scraping the bowl now and then, until it becomes smooth, glossy and somewhat stretchy. Spoon the dough into the prepared pastry bag.
  9. Pour vegetable oil into a large pot until it is halfway full. Attach a thermometer and heat the oil until it reaches 350°. Holding the pastry bag at an angle a few inches above the oil, pipe a 6" length of dough into the oil, using a paring knife to cut it free. Pipe four more lengths. Fry the churros, turning once and adjusting the heat to maintain 350°, until they are golden brown on all sides, for 2–3 minutes per side. Transfer them to a baking sheet lined with paper towels. Repeat with the rest of the dough.
  10. Sprinkle the warm churros with the reserved chilli-salt mixture. Add a dollop of the salsa to the warm queso and swirl it through. Serve the churros immediately with the dips.

Nutrition (per serving)

Sodium553700 mg

Recipe details

CategorySauces
Cuisinemexican
AuthorRick M.