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Local Food Journey

Recipe: Roasted tomatillo salsa verde

Posted by Jamie Oberdick on 10/06 at 09:18 AM

Tomatillos, ready for roasting

Salsa verde is a delicious twist on its red cousin, regular salsa. While regular salsa gets its red color from tomatoes, the classic Mexican salsa verde gets its green color from tomatillos (“verde” means “green” in Spanish). Salsa verde gets its tangy-sweet flavor from tomatillos.

If you are not familiar with tomatillos, they are a fruit that’s in the nightshade family. While many hear “nightshade” and think “poison”, other members of the nightshade family include tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, and ground cherries, all things that are both tasty and good for you. Like ground cherries, tomatillos grow inside thin husks. You may have seen them at grocery stores around the Hispanic produce, but they are also sometimes offered at farmers market. They are simple to grow and do surprisingly well in our climate. Think of them as similar to growing peppers or tomatoes. They offer some pretty spectacular yields.

So, how to convert those unusual looking tomatillos into salsa verde? The key is to roast them, which does a great job of bringing out their excellent, citrus-y flavor.

Ingredients

- 1 1/2 pounds fresh tomatillos
- 3-5 of your favorite fresh chile peppers, depending on how hot you like your salsa
- 3-4 garlic cloves, unpeeled
- 1/4-1/2 cup fresh cilantro
- 1 medium onion, cut into chunks
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

Steps

- Remove husks on tomatillos and rinse with warm water to remove the stickiness.
- Preheat oven to 500
- Roast all vegetables except cilantro for 15-20 minutes or until tomatillos go soft. They will char, and that’s okay, this adds flavor.
- Peel garlic
- Pull stems off peppers, you can also remove seeds to make them less hot.
- Put all ingredients into a blender or food processor.
- Puree until smooth, and enjoy with chips or part of a salsa verde recipe.