Tomatillo Hot(ish) Sauce

With tomatillo season in full swing, a hybrid between salsa verde and hot sauce came to mind as I simply couldn’t pick which to make. As I usually do with most hot sauces, I char the vegetables in the oven by keeping them under the broiler and making them as dark as I find appropriate. Remember, the more char, the deeper and smokier flavour you’ll get, however you’re likely to experience more bitterness in the final result (this can be balanced out with a sweetener such as honey).

If you scroll down, you’ll see photos of where I feel is the best level of roasting that is usually well accepted by everyone! Overall, you want to ensure that all the veggies are roasted to enhance their sweetness and any darker bits are just a bonus! I purposefully left one jalapeño raw to enhance a fresh flavour in the sauce. You can absolutely roast is if you’d rather!

Speaking of jalapeños, I decided to remove the seeds from two of the three to ensure that my sauce is palatable and appropriate to the tolerance in my home. If you know you can handle heat, go ahead and incorporate more seeds! I recommend deseeding the peppers and adding them as you taste in the blending stage to ensure you have complete control of the spice level!

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Tomatillo Hot(ish) Sauce

Ingredients :

• 5 tomatillos
• 1 white onion
• 2-3 garlic cloves
• 3 jalapeño peppers
• 1 tsp. neutral oil with high smoke point, such as avocado oil
• 1 lime, zested
• 1/2 bunch fresh cilantro (leaves and stalks)
• 1/2 cup white vinegar
• 2 tsp. salt, or to taste
• 1 tbsp. honey, or to taste
• 1/2 tsp. coriander seeds (powder if you do not have a high-powered blender)

Method:

1. Place you wire rack to the top of you oven and turn your oven on to broil setting.
2. Remove the husk and clean the tomatillos. Slide them in half and place on a baking tray.
3. Slice onion in half and separate layers (no need to separate all layers, this will simply help them char and cook in due time), place on baking tray.
4. Slice jalapeños in half and remove seeds if you want. Place 2 on baking tray along with the garlic.
5. Broil ingredients flipping if char is uneven. Depending on your oven, this may take 5-20min.
6. In a blender (use a food processor if you enjoy a chunkier texture), add the roasted veggies, vinegar, cilantro, coriander, lime zest, fresh jalapeño (seeds in or out depending on spice tolerance), honey and salt.
7. Blend until desired texture and adjust to taste.
8. Enjoy.