Everyone usually agrees that tomatillos, garlic, onion, peppers and cilantro are the basic ingredients involved, but do you simmer your tomatillo salsa on the stovetop, or simply pulse-then-blend the raw ingredients together? Perhaps it’s best to roast it in the oven till the whole thing transforms from a thin-into-thickening slurry, and finally to something more like a loose and glistening jam?
On the word of my friend You Grow Girl, Gayla Trail, I went with the roasting-pan method.
Since I planned to freeze (rather than can) about a dozen small jars, I didn’t have to worry about a perfect balance of acidity, or what other ingredients I added. I simply went by eye, and taste. In my first batch, I was timid about the hot peppers; in my second, I went a little bolder. Both are tasty.
I imagined the sweetness that happens when you roast vegetables—set against the kick of the peppers and garlic.
I used oil in the roasting pan, and lots of fresh cilantro. And I incorporated some of the sweeter, technically “over-ripe” tomatillos that had colored up to yellowish-green and purple, mixing them with tarter bright-green ones that are the familiar stuff of salsa verde. (When I say “over-ripe,” I want to be clear: They are not mushy or in some way gone bad, but still firm and in fact delicious, with an odd, complex, fruity sweetness I don’t recognize from Read more on awaytogarden.com