I have been growing a couple of ghost peppers this year. I'd never grown them before and didn't have anything in particular in mind to make. But, as one of the hottest peppers that you can get, I was certainly going to try my hand at something! Since I've been making a plethora of enchilada sauce this summer, why not ghost pepper enchilada sauce?
With about a 1 million Scoville rating, ghost peppers are one the hottest peppers on record. In 2007 they were named the hottest pepper in the world by the Guinness Book of World Records. Now, ghost peppers rank about 15th (Pepper Scale's "Hottest Peppers in the World 2021").
Although they are undoubtedly still an extraordinarily hot pepper! And I could think of nothing better to do with them than to make enchilada sauce. Which has been my absolute favorite thing to make this season. And I am really quite excited about! It's absolutely delicious and hands down one of the best hot sauces that I've ever. I have no doubt that it will be a recipe that I talk about and replicate for ages.
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Variations of Ghost Pepper Enchilada Sauce
Enchilada sauce is one of my favorite things to make this summer. I doubled up this recipe and made Enchilada Sauce w/ Red Chilis & Jalapeños at the same time. Although I have plenty of other recipes for enchilada sauce! It's by far my favorite thing to make this season and a great way to utilize produce before the season is up.
This ghost pepper enchilada sauce is made from peppers grown from my garden with tomatoes, yellow onion, garlic, and cumin. It's my spiciest version of enchilada sauce this summer! But feel free to substitute any peppers and tomatoes of choice. The same principle still applies. All that you really have to do is roast the peppers in an air fryer, or other method of choice, purée them in a food processor, and simmer on the stove until the desired consistency is reached.
Place the peppers, tomatoes, garlic, and onion in the air fryer. It can help to cut the tomatoes and onion in half and pierce the chilis with a knife so they don't burst while cooking.Depending on the size of your air fryer, you may need to break this up into multiple batches. I cooked the peppers and the rest of the fruits and vegetables separately. You can also substitute any other roasting method of choice. An oven or BBQ would do just fine. It's more to get a char flavor than explicitly necessary.
Cook at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 5-7 minutes, or until lightly charred. The skin should begin to brown, but not entirely blacken or shrivel. You're trying to roast them, not dry them!
Let cool to the touch.
Blend
Once the fruits and vegetables are cool to the touch, add the mixture to a food processor.
Add 2 cups of water.
Blend until pureed completely.In my Vitamix or Cuisinart Food Processor this takes about 15-20 seconds. In another blender, this might take a minute or two.Just be careful not to inhale the mixture when you open the lid! It's quite spicy.
Cook
Add the pureed mixture to a large pot with the additional 1 cup water and the salt, pepper, and cumin.You can blend all of the water together when you puree it, but I found that it was easier to add 2/3 of the water then finish thinning it in the pot. None of this will effect cooking, though. Add as more or as little water as you need to puree the ingredients and then add the rest before cooking!
Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer for 30 minutes, or until thickened to the desired consistency. Make sure to stir occasionally.
Serve immediately or refrigerate. With so many hot peppers, this enchilada sauce will last a good while in the refrigerator.
Tips, Tricks, & Notes
If you do air fry the vegetables for too long, don’t fret too much. You’ll still end up boiling the ingredients and they will re-hydrate. You’re pretty much okay with any amount of char as long as you don’t seriously burn them.
You can substitute any kind of pepper of choice. Even dried peppers will re-hydrate with the first simmer. If you don’t have fresh chilis or other peppers and want to use dried ones, just skip the roasting step and go straight to the first cooking stage.
A Vitamix also blends pretty smoothly. If you are using a type of blender that doesn’t liquify, you can strain the mixture to remove any leftover chunks. Generally, more liquid will result in a smoother consistency, but this isn’t guaranteed and can result in a watered down flavor. Although you can potentially add more liquid to blend and then cook longer to simmer down afterwards.
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