Salsa Verde (literally “green sauce”) is the most popular condiment in Mexico, ubiquitous on restaurant tables around the country. Good salsa verde recipes are easy to make, and nearly all the ingredients can be grown in the home garden.
Ingredients:
15 tomatillos, halved
1-2 jalapeno peppers
2-3 cloves garlic
1 white onion, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup cilantro
juice of 1 lime
1 avocado, quartered
salt & pepper to taste
Method:
Begin by laying the tomatillos, cut-side-down on a cookie sheet. Broil these until they are soft and slightly blackened. They don’t all have to be charred black, but the black skin adds a nice, smokey flavour to the salsa. Add these and the chopped onion to a food processor and work until you have a smooth liquid.
Heat a heavy skillet over high, and add the separated garlic cloves, unpeeled, and the jalapenos. You want to get these all a bit blackened on the outside, but keep them moving in the pan so they don’t stick. Then peel the garlic – the actual cloves may show some charring, but they will be nice and soft. Once the peppers are pan roasted, put them in a plastic bag or sealable container in the fridge for 10 minutes. This makes them easy to peel. Cut off the stems and de-seed for a milder sauce. Add the garlic and jalapenos to the processor and whiz until smooth.
Add the cilantro and lime juice and continue processing. Add the sliced avocado, and pulse until it is blended into the salsa.
Stir in salt & pepper to taste.
This recipe produces about 4 cups of salsa verde. Any leftovers can be frozen in bags or in sealed containers. Serve with tortillas, or drizzle over tacos, enchiladas, and so on. Salsa verde compliments just about any Mexican dish.
