Mexican Cooking Class: Super good super easy Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

During our Mexican cooking class Monday night students tried their hand at making homemade corn tortillas and puffy little gorditas. This tomatillo salsa was a big hit, a perfect accompaniment to the Baja fish tacos and vegetarian gorditas that we feasted on after class.

Roasted Tomatillo-Serrano Salsa / Salsa Verde
The “green salsa” is very versatile; we love it with eggs, dolloped on fresh fish, or as the final accompaniment on a taco.

• 1 Lb. (10 to 12) medium tomatillos, husked and rinsed
• 4 – 5 fresh serrano chiles
• 4 large garlic cloves, unpeeled
• ½ cup white onion, diced
• ¼ cup cilantro, roughly chopped
• sea salt to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar

Lay the tomatillos in a single layer on a baking sheet and broil at high heat until tomatillos blister and brown on one side, approx. 5 min. Turn over and roast other side. Cool on roasting pan. Tomatillos may also be roasted on a hot comal or heavy skillet.

Roast chiles and garlic on a comal or cast iron skillet over medium heat. Roast until the chiles are blackened in spots and the garlic is soft. Cool, then pull stems off chiles and scrape out the seeds. Peel the garlic cloves.

Scrape the roasted tomatillos and all juices from the baking sheet into a blender, along with the roasted chilies and garlic. Puree coarsely or pulse blender until the salsa is lightly pureed.

Scrape salsa into a serving bowl; slowly add 1/4 to 1/2 cup water to give sauce a spooning consistency. Rinse chopped onion under cold water (deflame), drain well, and add to mixture. Add the cilantro, season with salt and sugar to taste. Refrigerate before serving.
Makes 2 cups

Another option for making the salsa is to char chunks of white onion ( about half of a large white onion) along with the chiles and garlic. This will result in a salsa that has more roasted flavor and less of a bite of raw onion.

*The natural pectin in the tomatillos will thicken the salsa if refrigerated for a few hours before serving.

Salsa will keep for several days in the refrigerator.

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