Salsa Verde

I had promised myself that I'd try to do something interesting with the tomatillos, but after another busy week that included a three day business trip to Minnesota, I needed to get these used before they went bad, so I phoned it in with possibly the most common tomatillo recipe out there; salsa verde.

Salsa verde is made using a different technique than other salsas. Instead of dicing up the vegetables and mixing them together raw, all the ingredients are boiled together and then blended to make what is basically a chunky sauce. One of the reasons why its done this way is that tomatillos have a lot of pectin in them which is released by the boiling. Then when the mixture cools the pectin acts as a thickener, giving you salsa instead of tomatillo soup.

Ingredients
1 pound tomatillos, husked and quartered
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 jalapeno pepper, chopped
1 tbs chopped fresh oregano
1/2 tsp ground cumin
Salt to taste
2 cups water

Preparation
Place all the ingredients in a saucepan then pour in water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to a simmer and cook until the tomatillos are soft, around 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Using a blender, carefully blend the tomatillos and water in batches until you have just small chunks left. Let the salsa cool completely before eating.