Paul’s Salsa Verde
December 28, 2017 • Appetizers,
One bad thing about being a chef for a living is that other people often don’t want to cook for me. I’m not sure I can recall even one single time that someone cooked for me that I thought was bad food, yet people find it intimidating I guess. That’s part of the reason why I love this recipe so much: my sister’s boyfriend cared enough to make food for a family gathering even though he knew I’d have plenty of food on hand. His salsa verde was a hit from the first gathering, and now he never shows up without it. If you’ve only ever tasted salsa verde from a can, then you are in for a treat. Paul does all of the chopping by hand, but I’ve adapted his recipe to make use of a food processor. If you won’t have one, simply chop everything finely by hand or pulse in a blender in batches. The recipe makes a large quantity of salsa – but that never seems to be a problem as we gobble it up. Paul says it stores for a week or two in the refrigerator, and next time I have some I’m going to try freezing it just to see what happens. Thanks for sharing Paul!
- 2 pounds tomatillos, peeled and papery skin discarded
- 4 cloves garlic
- 4 small bunches of fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
- 10 green chile peppers (variety like jalapeño, Anaheim, Serrano), optionally seeded for less heat, roughly chopped
- 1-2 teaspoons salt
- Place the tomatillos in a wide, shallow sauté pan so they are in mostly a single layer. Just cover with water, cover the pan, and simmer until just barely soft when pierced with a knife. Drain and set aside.
- Place the garlic in the bowl of a food processor and while until finely minced. Add the cilantro and pulse to chop finely, Add the chile peppers and pulse a few more times. Add the cooked tomatillos and pulse until desired consistency, taking care not to puree. Work in batches if needed.
- Season to taste with salt, cover and chill for at least four hours for flavors to meld.
- Serve with high quality tortilla chips. Also great over eggs!