Awakening the Senses

I remember the first time I had a salsa made from tomatillos, I was in my teens. It awoke my senses.

Thinking wow, why haven’t I known about this before. The sweet, acidic flavors were a change from the typical jarred tomato salsa that I had grown up with.

Grow Your Own

For years I have made it a mission to grow my own tomatillos, they are easy to grow, don’t need tomato cages and may surprise you with how may you will get off of a handful of plants.

If you leave some of the spent tomatillos on the ground at the end of a growing season they will volunteer starts the next year. At that point, I usually transplant them to another location if there are several starting.

Search Out the Different Varieties

There are different varieties available depending on the nursery you may frequent. Every year or two, I will pick up a new pack of either purple tomatillo or some green tomatillos to give a fresh start with crops.

If you have room in your garden, give it a try, plant a couple of plants and enjoy some fresh tomatillo salsa in the summer.

Charred Tomatillo Salsa (GF) (V)

4 from 1 vote

Print Recipe

Course: Appetizer, Condiment, Sauce

Cuisine: Mexican

Keyword: Charred, Chiles, Grill, Grilled, Hatch Chile, Salsa, Serrano, Tomatillo

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes minutes

Servings: 12 servings

Author: Chef Tony Zentgraf

As with many salsa recipes, the ingredients are flexible. I like to use Hatch Chiles when I can get them.

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Recipe Multiplier

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• ▢ 1 lb Tomatillos (husks removed)
• ▢ 1 ea Onion (peeled and sliced whole)
• ▢ 1 ea Garlic Cloves
• ▢ 2 ea Serrano Peppers or substitute Roasted Hatch Chiles! (depending on how hot you like it)
• ▢ 2 ea Lime juiced
• ▢ ½ cup Cilantro Leaves and stems
• ▢ Salt to taste

Instructions

• Heat grill or broiler.
• Remove husks from Tomatillos and rinse.
• Peel and slice the onion into slices to be grilled.
• Grill the tomatillos until they are charred and softened.
  
• Grill the onions until charred and semi-tender.
  
• Trim the end from the serranos, if you want it milder remove the seeds and membrane from the inside of the pepper.
• In a food processor, place the garlic, serrano and onions in the bowl and pulse chop to break down them.
• Add the charred tomatillos and pulse to break down and puree.
• Add the cilantro and pulse to chop and incorporate.
• Add juice of one lime. Adjust flavor with more lime if needed.
• Adjust seasoning with Kosher Salt.

Notes

Roast some Hatch Chiles over the open fire to blister like you would do roasting a bell pepper, let steam in a bag or plastic wrap covered bowl and peel skin and seed them.

Add the pepper in place of the serrano peppers. Hatch chiles can range from mild to hot so ask your produce department what level they are.

Tomatillo salsa can be done also by simmering the tomatillos for 5-10 minutes until they are softened.

The onions can be raw and serrano peppers can be charred on the grill or fresh.

If you do the boil method with raw onions remember there may be more onion bite than grilling.

Both ways are good. I have done both ways, depending on what i have time for or am in the mood for.