I LOVE this salsa. It’s amazing how 4 little ingredients make something so good. The chipotle chiles give it a smokiness, the tomatillo lends it some tang, and then the roasted garlic…well, it’s roasted garlic!! Fantastic. I poured it all over my red chile chicken and rice with black beans, it would be great over eggs, with chips, in a burrito, really, with just about anything.
Not only is it delicious, but it’s really easy to make. Just husk the tomatillos, cut them in half and throw them in a skillet with the garlic to brown on both sides. You don’t even need to mince the garlic! Then you just throw it all in a blender with a couple chipotle peppers, whirl it around, toss in some salt, pour it in a bowl and you’re good to go!
Smoky Chipotle Salsa with Pan-Roasted Tomatillos
3 garlic cloves, peeled
4 medium (about 8 ounces total) tomatillos, husked, rinsed and cut in half
2 canned chipotle chiles en adobo (or more, if you like really spicy salsa), stemmed
1/4 cup water
Salt
Set a large (10-inch) non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. If you don’t have a non-stick skillet, lay in a piece of foil on the bottom of your pan. Lay in the garlic and tomatillos (cut side down) in the skillet. When the tomatillos are well browned, 3 or 4 minutes, turn everything over and brown the other side. The tomatillos should be completely soft before you move on to the blender.
Put the garlic and tomatillos into a blender with the chiles and 1/4 cup water. Process to a coarse puree. Pour into a serving bowl and cool.
If it seems a little thick, you can thin the salsa with additional water to get to the consistency that you want — it should be easily spoonable. Taste and season with salt, usually a generous 1/2 teaspoon.
Pixelated Crumb 
January 21st, 2011 at 3:37 pm
[…] technically buy some salsa to serve with these rice and beans, but once you try Bayless’ smoky chipotle salsa you’ll never want to. It’s easy and delicious, adding a whole new depth to the […]
January 28th, 2011 at 8:15 am
Am I missing something? Where does the quarter cup of salsa go?
January 28th, 2011 at 1:28 pm
@ Aka Kuro: I was wondering the same thing……..where does the 1/4 cup of salsa go?? And why does it need to go in there at all??
January 28th, 2011 at 2:41 pm
Oh my. You are so right! I was so excited about salsa that I put “salsa” where it doesn’t belong! It’s supposed to be water. You definitely do not need to add salsa to the water 🙂 Thanks for catching that, it’s been fixed!
February 4th, 2011 at 11:56 pm
[…] and appetizers are so easy (turkey burger, spicy sweet potato fries, turkey chili and corn bread, smokey chipotle salsa and chips are just a few), but desserts? Well, chocolate came to mind really quickly and the idea […]