Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

Phew! Finally found a scrap of time to pull this post together. The computer is still being fixed, which is the main reason it's taken so long to post. So just The same as my last post, this is all being written on my smartphone. 

The weather has really turned back to an Irish summer, it's grey, warm, wet and the air is quite close. Which are the perfect conditions for blight! That said i just finished pulling up my second early potatoes, called 'records'. They looked great, with no blight at all. All that's left are the main crop 'golden wonder' spuds. Looking forward to them! 

Since its been so dreary out I've been really craving warm summer Mexican cuisine. The first crop of tomatillos were harvested just last week. I knew what was destined for those babies- tomatillo salsa. It's great as a dip for tortilla chips or it makes a fantastic and authentic enchilada sauce, which is where my tomatillos ended up. Baked with cheese and spicy beef filling. 

This was my first go at growing tomatillos, i grew the 'violet' variety. they are really similar to grow as tomato plants. Even easier because they require no pruning, just space to sprawl. I grew mine in the polytunnel, and from 4 plants I've harvested nearly 5 pounds of fruit. They are best harvedted when they grow outside the husk. Their flavour is very similar to green tomatoes and are delicious roasted. They can also be eaten raw and made into a green salsa or 'salsa verde.'

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Roasted Tomatillio Salsa 

Makes enough for dip for a party or one tray of enchiladas

2 1/4  lb (1kg) tomatillios, de husked and washed

6 cloves garlic 

1 red onion

1 green jalepeno chilli

1 bunch coriander leaves

Salt and pepper 

 

• halve all the tomatillos and place face down on two oiled baking trays. 

• roast at 180C or 350F for about an hour, until the liquid has reduced by half and tomatillos are nice and dark, cool

• chop the red onion, coriander and jalepeno very fine

•place the roasted tomatillos with the garlic in a bowl and mix in the chopped onion, jalepeno and coriander

• stir and season with salt and pepper to taste. 

• use as a dip or use as a salsa in your favourite Mexican dish. Yum