Mexican Salsa Verde

Here are my tomatillos, some are little, some are huge...but they all taste great...

I asked my Mexican primo Alejandro for a salsa verde recipe and this is what he told me (word by word):

"About the tomatillos, you can cook them, but if you have time to roast them, much better.

For about 2 kilos of tomatillo use 50 ml of vegetable oil, add 2/3 onions, 4-5 garlic cloves, green chilli, cilantro (as you wish, I use a lot). Salt (as you wish) NO SUGAR. Some people who work with preserves suggest to put sugar to diminish the vinegar flavor. And vinegar. Someone told me that if you put 100ml of vinegar per litre, it preserves well (as long as is refrigerated), and the flavor of the vinegar is not to strong, so there is no need for sugar. Normally big companies put more vinegar and sugar because the product is not refrigerated.

Make some test, with sugar and without and see what happens. I kept some salsas in the fridge for up to 3 months without problems. Frozen salsa may last up to a year or more."

So I tried with no sugar and little vinegar for a fresh salsa verde to be eaten within a week:

Roast the tomatillos first, then place in a pot with the other ingredients (adding the cilantro at the end) and boil up. Then I used the blender (even if you use an electric blender the seed will remain whole), not sure if Alejandro would approve....

I use this salsa within a week: delicious!

Then I added a bit more vinegar and sugar for a second version, to preserve.

Place the hot salsa verde in sterilised jars, dried in the oven. Seal the jars with cellophane covers (available in supermarkets) secured with an elastic band, or capsule lids (I use Quattro Stagioni brand). If using capsule lids, place the jars in a pot and cover with water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes, depending on the size of the jars. Let the jars cool down in the pot overnight and when they are cold make sure that the capsule has popped by pressing gently on the lid. Cellophane covered jars will last for several months and capsule lid jars for up to one year. And I put one in the freezer...just to see what happens...

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©