Tomatillo Salsa (A potential Chipotle Copycat!)

Today is one of those days that I would love to just sit and pin things on Pinterest and then go curl up on the couch with a good chic flick.  The weather is a tad blustery and at any given time, it may just decide to down pour.  Rain is exciting around here, because we've been in a horrible drought and with El Nino making her appearance, rain is actually measurable.  So. . . bring on the rain!

Yesterday, I made some salsa to go with our Taco Night menu.  Usually, I make this one and this one, but tonight I wanted to tackle the green/tomatillo salsa that Chipotle makes.  It surprised me that there weren't more on Pinterest and so I went with the first one I had.  I didn't exactly follow the directions. . . I just used them as guidelines. 

First of all, if you are wondering what the Tomatillo salsa is. . . it's the green/medium salsa at Chipotle.  It's my husbands favorite and it's pretty high on my list, too!  Tomatillos can be found in most grocery stores, and look like little tomatoes, but with a green tissue-y wrapper around them.  They range in size from ping pong balls to baseballs and are firmer than a tomato.

This recipe was super simple and really didn't take to much time to do.  And I can't stop eating it.  It's pretty delicious!  Mine turned out not super spicy, but it would be easy to make it spicier.  

Line a jelly roll pan with foil and put your rinsed tomatillos, garlic, and onions on top.  Place them under the broiler for about 10-15 minutes.  This really depends on the sizes of your tomatillos.  The smaller they are, the quicker they will cook.  I set my timer for 3 minute intervals and turned them around so they get charred on all sides and not burned on just one.

I forgot to take a picture of what they look like once they are done cooking.  Oops! 

But, this was taken not long after.  Look at that charred goodness!  Put all the veggies in a food processor, along with 3 chipotle chilies.  I followed the original recipe and seeded them. . . you might not want to if you want some heat.  It's up to you.  Put the lid on and pulse a few times. 

Mmmm. . . it's starting to look delicious!  Go ahead and sprinkle a few handfulls of cliantro in and pulse one or two more times.  Sprinkle with salt and and a dash of lime juice and get to dipping!

Don't you just want to eat this right up?  It was so yummy!  I think the added heat is the only thing that was missing from the Chipotle version, and that can be solved by adding some seeds from the chilies.   

Tomatillo Salsa

adapted from here. 

Ingredients:

1-1/2 lbs tomatillos, husked and rinsed. 

1 onion, cut into large chucks

4-6 garlic cloves

3 chipotle chillies in adobo sauce

cilantro

salt

lime juice

Directions:

Place veggies on a foiled jelly roll pan.  Roast under broiler for 10-15 minutes, turning veggies every 3 minutes to get a good char. 

Put veggies and juice into food processor.  Add chilies.  Pulse a few times until you get the desired consistency.  Add cilantro and salt to taste.  Pulse a few more times.  Pour into a bowl and add more salt, if desired and a splash of lime juice.  Stir and dip a tortilla in it.  Try to stop. . . if you can!   

UPDATE:  When I made this before, it was wonderful, but not a lot of kick.  I added a jalepeno to my baking sheet and roasted it with rest of the veggies and added everything to the food processer (I did pull of the stem, but left the seeds!).  The perfect amount of kick.  This moves it from a mild salsa to a medium-hot.