Tomatillo Salsa

Tomatillos, those strange, green, tomato-like things you may have seen at the grocery store. They’re actually not related to the tomato plant, but rather they are a member of the gooseberry family. Most of us steer clear of these goblin fruits in fear of not knowing what to do with them. If you do ever encounter a fresh whole tomatillo at the grocery store, you’ll notice it is encased in a delicate leaf-like husk, hence the relation to the gooseberry.

Maybe you don’t think you’ve ever had a tomatillo, but chances are if you’ve eaten at a Mexican restaurant and ordered a dish with “salsa verde” or some sort of “chili verde” sauce, then you’ve eaten tomatillos.

I love these Mexican verde salsas and sauces, so when tomatillos appeared in our CSA share, I was more than excited to try my hand at making a homemade version. Tomatillos are not very pleasant raw, so it’s best to roast them or cook them down on the stove. I chose to roast them to caramelize the fruit for a robust salsa. Before roasting the tomatillos though, you need to peel away that outer protective leaf. Upon removing that husk, you’ll notice that the tomatillo fruit itself has a slightly greasy, smooth feel to it, so it’s important to wash the tomatillos and dry them well before throwing them into the oven. Once I prepped my green fruits, I kept them whole and arranged them on a baking sheet with jalapenos, large wedges of onion, and garlic. No need to add any oil here to the roasting process. I roasted the vegetables for about 25-30 minutes at 350F until the tomatillos began to caramelize. Once everything was cool enough to handle, I tossed all the veggies into my food processor for a quick few pulses, added some fresh lime zest and juice, and a dash of salt, and that was it! My very own tomatillo salsa was ready for chip-dipping and dish-topping! The consistency was almost thick and jammy, which was a perfect texture. I served it first atop freshly grilled wild corvina, and boy was it divine! The rest of the week, I pretty much put a dollop of the salsa on everything, and it just took my meals to the next level. Hubs even ate it with his eggs in the morning and was one happy camper.

So here’s my recipe for homemade tomatillo salsa! Enjoy it!

Tomatillo salsa

1 lb. tomatillos, husks removed

½ onion, cut into quarters

3 cloves garlic

2 jalapeno peppers

Salt

Zest and juice of 1 lime

Line a baking sheet with foil and preheat the oven to 350F. Wash and dry the tomatillos. Arrange the whole tomatillos on the baking sheet, along with the onion chunks, whole garlic cloves, and whole jalapenos. Roast for about 30 minutes or until the tomatillos begin to caramelize and slightly split open. Remove the veggies from the oven and allow them to cool. Once they have cooled, split open the jalapenos and remove as many seeds as possible. Place the roasted jalapenos, onions, tomatillos, and garlic in the bowl of a food processor and puree until smooth. Zest the lime, then cut the lime in half and squeeze both halves into the mix. Add salt to taste and puree again to incorporate all the ingredients. Serve immediately or refrigerate for future use! Keeps well in the refrigerator for several weeks.