I can’t say I’ve worked with the tomatillo for very long. Maybe a few years at best, when my mom’s friend gave us a whole box of the husked green fruit. We made a cooked Salsa Verde and canned it, and since then, I’ll buy tomatillos any time I see them in the grocery store. Before that though, I only knew it as the main ingredient in the ‘green sauce’ so commonly adorning classic Mexican ‘verde’ titled dishes.

Not to be confused with green tomatoes, the tomatillo is in fact a fruit and a part of the nightshade family. Like the cape gooseberry, its papery lantern-like enclosure is the space it grows into, and its skin is sticky to the touch. As they grow, they turn from dark green to pale green and almost white. They grow quite easily even here in southern Manitoba, and with a warm fall this year, now in early October we continue to pick from the large plant that continues to bear flowers in the garden that is now nearly vacant.

When out of season, I find tomatillos on plastic wrapped trays in Superstore, unhusked, in the tomato and basil section of the produce department. They are also wonderful canned, and I’ve found them in the regional/Mexican section of Sobey’s. The canned version is perfect for cooked salsa verde.

In this recipe blog, I share a classic salsa verde recipe for eating with corn chips, on chicken, in tacos, or really on anything!

Watch here for step by step instructions to make this recipe!

Salsa Verde, boiled version

Yield: about 2 cups

1 1/2 to 2 pounds of fresh & husked tomatillos (or 1 large can)

1-2 jalapeños, stemmed & seeded

2 cloves of garlic, peeled and quartered

white onion, about 1/4 cup diced

1 Tbs oil

1/4 tsp salt

Directions:

Husk and wash the tomatillos. Prepare the jalapeño and place into a saucepan and cover with water.
Bring to a boil and then reduce the temperature to a gentle boil, for about 10-15 minutes. The whole tomatillos will turn to a kaki green color. You don’t want them to be bursting open, so keep an eye on them. Drain the liquid, reserving only a bit.
Meanwhile, prepare the garlic and onion, placing them into a small food processor or in a cylinder for using an immersion blender. Add the boiled tomatillos and jalapeño and blend, about 1 minute.
Return the pot to the stove on medium heat, adding a tablespoon of oil to the hot pot.
Pour the puree into the pot and cook on medium low, for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add salt.
Serve hot, or place in a jar to cool in the refrigerator. Serve within 5 days, or freeze, or can using safe canning techniques.
Chef’s Note: If you are using canned tomatillos, drain the liquid (it can be quite salty), and skip down to the blending part as they won’t need to be boiled. You can either boil the jalapeño on its own, or add it in the blender raw as it will be cooked again. I find that in this cooked version, the tangy acid of the tomatillo as well as the sharp heat of the jalapeño are pleasantly muted, allowing for a more versatile sauce.