Salsa Verdes
(Roasted Tomatillo Salsa)

Note for Australia: If there *were* any tomatillos on this continent this year, I have reports that they’ve been wiped out in the Queensland flooding. So yeah, this recipe calls for a fair amount of unobtainium.  Please see Green Tomato Salsa for an Australian Equivalent. 

For Roasting:
2.5 lbs tomatillos (about 30)
3 fresh anaheim peppers
2 fresh poblano peppers
2 medium tomatoes

Fresh Ingredients:
1/3 cup onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
8 green onions, rinsed well, removing limp shoots, and sliced very thin
Jalapenos and/or Serranos (optional)
Salt, to taste

The tomatillos should be firm and fresh. Try to get them all about the same size: (ping-pong-ball-sized works for me) so they’ll cook evenly. When you peel the papery covering off, the tomatillos are often sticky from sap, so I just put them and the fresh peppers and tomatoes in some warm water with a little detergent and give them a good bath.

Put the clean and dry tomatillos and tomatoes on a baking sheet with a lip to keep liquids from running off into your oven. I spritz the peppers with a little cooking spray to help the pepper skins conduct heat and get good and hot. Roast everything at 400 degrees for 30 – 40 minutes, until the tomatillos start browning on top. At that point, pull out the tomatillos, put the oven on broil, and put the peppers and tomatoes back in. You need to stick around for this part: When the skins start getting really black, flip the tomatoes or peppers. When a particular item is blackened on both sides, pull it out immediately. Drop the peppers, still hot, into a ziplock bag to steam. When everythings’ blackened, turn off the broiler. You’re through cooking.

Remove any blackened skin from the tomatoes and put them and the roasted tomatillos, in batches if you have to, through a blender until the liquid is smooth and not chunky. Empty the pureed tomatillo mixture into a mixing bowl. When the peppers have cooled in their ziplock, put on some rubber gloves and peel the cellophane-like skins off the peppers. Rinse the stems and seeds out under running water. Pulse the pepper flesh a few times in the blender until this is also a puree, and stir it into the tomatillo/tomato mixture.

Add the chopped onion, green onion, and garlic to the mixture, and about a tsp of salt. I added some chopped serranos one time but it was pretty hot, so I didn’t add them last time. If you are a pepper head go ahead and knock yourself out. Chill. Serve.

This is my own recipe, but its spiritual ancestor is the green salsa at Trudy’s in Austin.

P.S. you could probably make this with canned tomatillos and chiles and save about 75% of the time, but it wouldn’t be as good.