Toasted chile de arbol combined with dry roasted tomatillos is one of my favorite salsas! There are so many variations of tomatillo salsa to be prepared and enjoyed! Try thinking outside the box when you approach a salsa recipe. Combine fresh chile peppers with dried chile pods. Mix tomatillos with tomato to add different levels of flavor.
So Many Salsas, So Little Time!
So many salsa variations, so little days! Or you run out of chips! Most days, I start cooking and I don’t even know what I may have on hand for salsa ingredients, but I know I always have dried chiles. On this morning, I was cooking beef cheek barbacoa in my pressure cooker. Certain tacos call for certain salsa’s and I knew I wanted it to be spicy or at least look intimidating!! Ha, ha! This intro will be short and to the point. Cutting in on my Netflix time people, lol! Just kidding. You all know how much I love to share recipes. I posted this recipe on my Facebook page last week and received a good response. Somewhere in my many salsa recipes that I have this same combination of ingredients for salsa. Not sure if it was that lone orange serrano that I threw in that made this salsa extra special, but I really have enjoyed eating it on everything!! A taco is only as good as the salsa running down your arm!! Tacos Forever! #foodieforlife #spicyfoodlove
Toasted Chile de Arbol-Tomatillo Salsa
So when people ask me if I prefer red or green salsa, I say, I prefer a good and spicy salsa!! Color is optional!
Those tiny specs of charred chile de arbol. To me, that a sign of a tasty salsa.
Beef Cheek Barbacoa!
This was a grilled tostada with refried beans on top. A double yolk egg, sunny side up and the salsa! Love it!
Grilled Chicken made into a torta with the salsa!!
Red Chile Pork Tamales I pulled from my freezer for lunch todaywith the salsa!
Equipment
- griddle , comal, blender
Ingredients
- 4-5 large tomatillos remove husk, wash tomatillos
- 12 chile de arbol stems removed
- 1 orange/red serrano pepper optional
- 2 cloves garlic leave skins on
- Splash of cooking water the water the tomatillos simmered in
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Heat comal or griddle to medium heat. Add the tomatillos, garlic, serrano and chile de arbol.
- At the same time, heat a small saucepan with water on medium heat. As soon as the chile de arbol become aromatic and begin to blacken, turn them quickly. Leave them for only another few seconds. Transfer them to the saucepan with water. Lower the heat, slightly.
- Continue dry roasting the tomatillos and garlic for another 10 minutes. Remove garlic and set aside. Add the tomatillos to the saucepan of water with chile de arbol. Cook just until tomatillos turn color. You don’t want them to tear open.
- Using tongs, transfer the salsa ingredients to the blender. Remove skins from garlic and add them to the blender. Add a splash(1/4 cup) of cooking water to the blender. Season to taste, with salt. Blend on high for 45-60 seconds. Taste for salt and blend on high again for another 30-40 seconds.
Made this last night and let it cool overnight in the fridge. Just blended everything and boy is it yummy. Has a nice kick to it but I leave all the seeds from Serrano in. This will definitely be filed under my “salsa keepers.”
Thank you Kathy for the feedback on the recipe! It’s one of my favorite salsa recipes!