As requested – here is our Roasted Tomatillo Salsa Verde. I’m glad we overplanted these. Since everything did so poorly, we ended up with a small batch of excess tomatillos. The trick on this Salsa Verde is to know when to harvest the tomatillos and get a mix of ripe, overripe, and almost ripe fruit.

Watch for the husk to burst on the tomatillo, the fruit should be large and depending on the variety, green to green-yellow. Getting a few not quite ripe helps bump up the tartness and adding a few overripe adds some sweetness.

The next trick is roasting these – and by roast – I mean make them soft and get some char. I roast everything, the tomatillos, onions, peppers, and garlic (leave these in their paper husk so they don’t burn).

Put everything in a pot – bring to a boil add cilantro, salt, pepper, cumin, vinegar, and lime/lemon juice and get it softened up even more (10 min or so). Then blend it until smooth. I leave the seeds from the peppers, but you can remove them depending on how hot you want it. I usually let it simmer another 10 min just to settle the flavors and let it reduce some.

Ingredients

5 pounds Tomatillos
2 medium onions
2 Jalapenos (or serrano)
3 Green Chilies (anaheim/poblano)
6 cloves garlic
1/2 cup Chopped Cilantro
2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Black Pepper
1 tsp Cumin (optional)
1/2 cup vinegar
1/4 cup lime/lemon juice

Process in a water bath canner for 15 min (pints) adjust for altitude with 1/2 inch headspace.

I should note – this is a good cooking sauce, not so much a chip dip salsa. I find that the high acidity needed to water bath can make it a little harsh for chips – but simmered with some good pork – it’s wonderful.