Tomatillo Salsa
We’ve been pretty salsa-happy here at Food Junta the past few months: First Nachy wrote about this basic tomato salsa, then a few weeks ago I told you about this “salad,” which is really just a glorified salsa.
It’s that time again. I had been getting tomatillos in my CSA for a few weeks and had no clue what to do with them. I finally got around to looking for recipes for them on epicurious.com. Almost every recipe was for some kind of sauce or salsa, so I decided that was the way to go.
Boy was it. All I did was roast vegetables for half an hour and toss them in the blender, and it yielded some of the best salsa I’ve ever tasted. Tomatillo season is almost behind us in most parts of the country, so run out and grab some before it’s too late.
A tomatillo is basically a citrus-y tomato with a little jacket on. They have a complex sour flavor that makes them a bad candidate for a sandwich topping but perfect for making salsa.After roasting, the interior of the fruit practically liquifies, so I think you could even make this salsa without a blender.
The recipe provides directions for canned tomatillos as well. If anyone tries that, please let me know how they are.
As for hot peppers: I had no serranos, but I had an assortment in my freezer – the best place to store them – and just grabbed one at random. This is, er, a pretty bad idea. I tasted a small piece of the roasted pepper and just about burnt my tongue off. Ultimately, this was the better alternative as it led me to add just about 1/3 of the pepper to the salsa, which still left it really spicy. The whole pepper would have rendered it inedible. I would recommend using a pepper you’re familiar with or adding a little bit at a time to the salsa, tasting as you go.
Or you can just go wild and serve it to people you don’t really care for. Up to you.
Roasted Tomatillo Salsa
Gourmet Magazine, November 1999
5 fresh serrano chiles
3 garlic cloves, unpeeled
1/2 cup fresh cilantro
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
2 teaspoons coarse salt
Preheat broiler.
If using fresh tomatillos, remove husks and rinse under warm water to remove stickiness. If using canned tomatillos, drain and measure out 2 cups. Broil chiles, garlic, and fresh tomatillos (do not broil canned) on rack of a broiler pan 1 to 2 inches from heat, turning once, until tomatillos are softened and slightly charred, about 7 minutes.
Peel garlic and pull off tops of chiles. Purée all ingredients in a blender.
I think I missed tomatillo season