Friends, it has finally gotten cold here. Like frost on your windsheld cold. I pulled all my green tomatoes out of the garden last weekend, and made this delicous fresh green tomato salsa verde!
I had 8 lbs of green tomaotes, so there was plenty to make this green tomato mince pie as well as many batches of salsa. Keep reading below to hear about some of the variations I tried.
Broiling the tomatoes helps to make this salsa taste a little more composed. The char concentrates the sugars, and helps it to taste less raw. Lets face it, these tomatoes are not even ripe, so the char goes a long way!
Peeling the skin from the charred tomatoes helps to make the texture of the salsa even. Don’t worry about getting ever single piece, however. Pull off what comes easy and forget about the rest and you won’t be able to tell the difference.
This salsa also freezes with success. The color isn’t as vibrant, and it appears more watery right after thawing. Just give it a good stir and you will be enjoing its flavors with pleasure.
Variations to the Fresh Green Tomato Salsa Verde recipe:
- A green salsa would be more traditional with tomatillos than green tomatoes, but I have a lot of green tomaotes, and this recipe is declisous, so why not!
- Soaking the onion in water helps it to taste less pungent, which is great if you are serving to some people who may not appreciate raw onion.
- Deseed the jalapeno to decrease the heat, or omit it to make a very mild salsa. The flavors develop as the salsa sits, so make it in advance to have more heat.
- I have also tried jarred jalapenos with success, in a pinch (also known as I forgot to buy fresh).
- I like to use a little more salt in this recipe than I use in most of my recipes. It makes it taste more like what you get at a restaurant, or from the store.
- 1 lb green tomatoes
- ½ medium onion
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1 jalapenos
- ½ cup cilantro with stems (small handful)
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 TBS lime juice
- Broil tomatoes until charred on both sides, about 10 minutes each side.
- Place onion in a bowl of water and let this rest while you broil the green tomatoes.
- Let the tomatoes cool enough to handle and peel as much skin off as possible.
- Quarter the tomatoes and add to a food processor with the drained onion, garlic, jalapenos, cilantro, salt, and lime juice. Process to your desired consistency.
I only have dried cilantro. Can I use it and how much.
Substituting dried herbs for fresh works best in recipes that are cooked because it allows the dried herbs flavor to seep out into the dish. Because the cilantro is never cooked in this recipe, you won’t really taste it if using dried. You can certainly try it and see if the flavor works for you. When substituting dried herbs for fresh you want to use about 1/3 of the original amount, so for this recipe you want about 2 1/2 TBS dried.
Can this recipe be water bath canned for a longer shelf life?
I have not tried it, so I cannot be certain. This site explains how to do it safely if you try!
How long does this salsa last in the fridge?
It’s life span is short because it doesn’t have preseratives. I would say you will get about 7 days. You can also freeze it, but it does get a little watery when thawed. Thanks for your question, Cecillee!