I usually reach immediately for the green salsa when given a choice. With these two, it’s hard to decide though. I love to have a bottle of salsa in the fridge for use whenever I need a little something– whether it’s on eggs in the morning or over grilled fish for a quick dinner. Once you make your own, you’ll never go back to the jarred kind. It’s just so easy and quick, you’ll definitely be won over.
This will make a double batch of green tomatillo salsa, and you can use half to make the red variety.
Green Tomatillo Salsa
10 tomatillos, husks removed
2 garlic cloves, whole
1 onion, rough chop or quartered
2 jalapeños, halved with stem removed
1 cup water, or enough to cover half the solids in the saucepan
1 tablespoon agave
1 bunch cilantro, about 1 cup roughly chopped
1 lime, zested and juiced
Combine the tomatillos, garlic, onion, jalapeños, and water in a saucepan and allow to simmer for 20 minutes, until everything is softened. Add to a blender with the agave and cilantro and blend. Season to taste. Pour back into the saucepan and allow to reduce until your desired thickness. I like it to be a little thinner so I just allow it to simmer for 10 minutes or so. Add the lime juice and zest.
Red Tomatillo Salsa
1/2 batch of the above Green Tomatillo Salsa
4 Dried Chili de Arbol or your favorite dried chili, soaked in hot water
Add the dried chilis to the blender with the salsa and pulse gently. If it needs some extra liquid, add some of the soaking liquid from the chilis. This one can also be cooked down. You may prefer to remove the seeds before adding to the blender, if you like your salsa less hot.
