Add some salsa verde to your meal or as a dip for your tortilla chips with this tomatilla green salsa recipe.

 

Ingredients

• 5 cups chopped tomatillos
• 1-½ cups seeded, chopped long green chiles
• 1/2 cup seeded, finely chopped jalapeño peppers
• 4 cups chopped onions
• 1 cup bottled lemon or lime juice
• 6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin (optional)
• 3 tablespoons dried oregano leaves (optional)
• 1 tablespoon canning or pickling salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper

 

Yield: About 5 pints

 

Caution: Wear plastic or rubber gloves and do not touch your face while handling or cutting hot peppers. If you do not wear gloves, wash hands thoroughly with soap and water before touching your face or eyes.

 

Procedure

 

Preparing Tomatillos

Remove the dry outer husks from tomatillos; wash thoroughly. They do not need to be peeled or seeded.

 

Preparing Peppers

The skin of long green chiles may be tough and can be removed by heating the peppers. Usually when peppers are finely chopped, they do not need to be skinned. If you choose to peel chiles, slit each pepper along the side to allow steam to escape. Peel using one of these two methods:

• Oven or broiler method to blister skins - Place chiles in a hot oven (400°F) or broiler for 6 to 8 minutes until skins blister.
• Range-top method to blister skins - Cover hot burner (either gas or electric) with heavy wire mesh. Place peppers on burner for several minutes until skins blister.
• To peel, after blistering skins, place peppers in a pan and cover with a damp cloth. (This will make peeling the peppers easier.) Cool several minutes; slip off skins. Discard seeds and chop.

 

The jalapeño peppers do not need to be peeled, but seeds are often removed.

 

Hot Pack

Combine all ingredients in a large saucepan and stir frequently over high heat until mixture begins to boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 2O minutes, stirring occasionally. Ladle hot into clean, hot pint jars, leaving ½-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace if needed. Wipe rims of jars with a dampened, clean paper towel; apply two-piece metal canning lids. Process in a boiling water canner according to the recommendations in Table 1.

 

Table 1. Recommended process time for Tomatillo Green Salsa in a boiling-water canner.

 

Style of Pack: Hot

 

Note: You may use green tomatoes in this recipe instead of tomatillos.

 

Important

The only other change you can safely make in this salsa recipe is to change the amount of spices and herbs. Do not alter the proportions of vegetables to acid and tomatoes because it might make the salsa unsafe. Do not substitute vinegar for the lemon juice.

 

Sources

National Center for Home Food Preservation, http://nchfp.uga.edu/