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Great Googamooga

One day we thought about Salsa Verde. There were so many. And then we wondered what if we could take one, modify it, and make it a sauce. Amazingly, this turned out just like a green sauce from my childhood from a little taco stand in Pasadena where my mom always bought her taquitos. This is for her.

There are 2 basic steps to make this sauce. The first step is to create a "mash" and the second step is to pull out the pulp and add the rest of the ingredients.

Starting

This all starts with tomatillos. You could get raw tomatillos and prepare them for the sauce by either boiling them, boiling them in the over, or pan roast them.

Remove the papery husks from the tomatillos and rinse well. Cut the tomatillos in half and place cut side down on a foil-lined baking sheet. Add a few garlic cloves in their skin (if using). Place under a broiler for about 5-7 minutes to lightly blacken the skins of the tomatillos.

While this is possible, it is a royal pain in the butt to peel off the husks from the fruit. So, an easier way is to get 12 ounce cans of tomatillos and boiling the garlic and jalapeno briefly to make them softer for blending.

The Sauce

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds tomatillos (about 12 medium) (1 can 12 ounces
1/2 cup chopped white onion
3 large pods (or more) garlic
1/2 cup chopped cilantro leaves and stems
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
4 jalapeño or serrano peppers, stemmed, seeded and chopped (you can use whole for more heat if you want)
Dried Arbol Chiles, grinded (stems removed)
Salt to taste

Place the cooked tomatillos, lime juice, onions, garlic (if using), cilantro, chili peppers in a blender or food processor and pulse until all ingredients are finely chopped and mixed.

Remove from blender and strain in a sieve and spatula.

Add salt and dried Chile to tast