What to do with tomatillos?

August 23, 2008 at 3:39 pm (Cooking, Organic gardening, recipes)
Tags: salsa, tomatillos

I suppose it should come as no surprise to me that the tomatillos are loving this hot, dry weather. I got five or six plants for free the day the “parking lot nursery” was closing for the season. They were about 18″ tall, with potbound, dried-out root balls when I bought them. Most of the plants have put on six inches or so on every branch and are just loaded with blossoms and fruit.

I picked about 3/4 lb of them this afternoon and immediately thought…now what? I’d picked up the plants partly because they were free, partly because I knew they’d do well if the summer turned hot and dry, and partly because I love me some salsa verde. So salsa verde it is!

Holy cow. This stuff was so easy, and so yummy, I think tomatillos will show up in my “dryland garden” from now on. And they probably will; they tend to re-seed themselves, I hear.

Nearly Instant Salsa Verde Recipe

• 3/4 lb (about a pint) tomatillos, husks removed and fruit washed*
• 2 large cloves fresh garlic
• 1 Tbl fresh onion (or 2 pearl onions)
• 1 fresh green cayenne pepper, stem removed (or other hot green pepper to your taste)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 Tbl lime juice

Put everything in a blender and whoosh 30-40 seconds until it’s well-minced. It will be somewhat watery – ok for a salsa, and excellent for enchiladas or tamales.

* How do you know a tomatillo is ready to eat? It will still be rather green, and won’t quite fill its husk. Don’t let them ripen fully (yellow fruit completely filling the husk) or they’ll be too bland.