Inspired by the salsa verde recipe found in My Mexico Kitchen by Gabriela Camara. Adapted for personal preference and ingredient availability.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs tomatillos
- 1 jalapeño
- 2 poblano chiles
- 2 habaneros (if heat desired)
- 1 small sweet yellow onion
- 1/3 - 2/3 c water
- palm-ful cilantro, 80-90% of the stems removed
- 1 tsp salt or to taste
Hardware
- 1 half sheet-cake size cooking sheet + liner pan OR
- 2 9” by 11” casserole dishes
- blender or food processor
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F.
- Peel tomatillos and rinse any residual stickiness off in cool water.
- Cut smaller tomatillos in half and larger ones in quarters.
- Place them on cooking sheet or casserole dish.
Slice jalapeños in half axially. Remove seeds and stem.- Slice radially and throw on cooking sheet or baking pan.
- Slice poblanos in half axially. Remove seeds and stem.
- Slice the pieces twice radially and place alongside jalapeños.
- Peel and quarter 1 small onion. Place with peppers and tomatillos.
- Distribute vegetables evenly across the cooking vessel(s).
- Place into oven for 15-20 minutes, or until vegetables start to blacken slightly at the edges.
- Pull from oven and cool until no longer hot. Blending while still hot presents a burning hazard from spills and heats up the blending vessel so it is difficult to handle.
- Prepare cilantro and place into blender or food processor.
- Pour in 1/3 c water and put 3 or 5 piece of tomatillo in.
- Blend on low to medium until cilantro leaves are flecks roughly the same size as crushed red pepper flakes.
- Add in all chilies then 2/3 of the remaining tomatillos.
- Blend on medium or high until all material is fairly well broken down and homogenous. Note: tomatillo seeds will not break down.
- While still blending, add remaining water in small amounts. Stop blending periodically to test for desired thickness. Factor in that salsa verde will thicken slightly when cold.
- Add in remaining tomatillos and blend lightly to get a chunkier salsa or thoroughly to have a smoother texture.
- Transfer salsa to a sealable glass container. This recipe will fill 3/4 of a quart jar.
- Use within 2 weeks, storing in the fridge. Salsa verde will thicken slightly when chilled.