Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

My go-to recipe for football games, cookouts, TexMex dinner parties, random Thursdays, etc. is my Roasted Tomatillo Salsa. When I moved away from Texas and had serious salsa cravings, I learned just how easy it is to make at home as long as you have the following key items:

1. A food processor (or an immersion blender)
2. A grocery store that carries tomatillos (this isn't a given in New England -- when they do have them, I always baffle the poor checkout person who inevitably asks "what ARE these??")

Homemade salsa is roughly one million times better than jarred salsa, and it always "wows" guests.  So without further ado, here's my salsa recipe! (based loosely off of Homesick Texan's Tomatillo Salsa)

 

Ingredients

1 lb tomatillos, husked (if they're fairly large, I also cut them in half)

2 cloves of garlic, unpeeled

2 serrano chiles

1/4 medium yellow onion, roughly chopped

1/2 cup cilantro, roughly chopped

1/2 lime, juiced

1/4 tsp ground cumin (optional)

salt to taste

Directions

Turn on broiler to High 

Place garlic cloves in a piece of foil, drizzle in a little olive oil, and wrap foil around the garlic

Place tomatillos, serranos, and foil-wrapped garlic cloves on a foil-lined baking sheet (this makes cleanup WAY easier)

Place under the broiler for 8-10 minutes, until tomatillos and peppers are blackened.

Flip tomatillos and peppers and broil for 8-10 minutes, to blacken the other side

Meanwhile, take chopped onion, cilantro, lime juice, and cumin  and toss them into the bowl of a large food processor

When tomatillos, garlic, and peppers are done, remove the peppers from the baking sheet and place in a ziplock bag (the steam in the bag will loosen the charred skin to facilitate peeling)

Scrape tomatillos and any juices on the baking sheet into the food processor along with the unwrapped, peeled garlic cloves

After a few minutes, remove the peppers from the plastic baggie, chop off the stems, peel off the skin, and remove seeds (if desired -- I usually leave them in for a spicier salsa). Add them to the food processor as well

Turn on food processor and blend until smooth. Taste and add salt to taste

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Note: I think the salsa is better on day #2, so I usually make it a day before I intend to serve it to anyone. If you notice that your salsa thickens up too much overnight, just add a bit of water to loosen it up before serving