In Mexico, salsas are typically made with ingredients roasted on a clay comal, or griddle. A cast-iron skillet is a good substitute. When whole chile peppers, unpeeled garlic cloves, tomatoes, and tomatillos are dry-roasted, they brown as they cook and develop the toasty overtones that create deep flavors in the salsa. Another traditional tool is the molcajete y tejolote, a rough stone mortar and pestle used to mash and blend the salsa.

　　

Ingredients

makes about 2 cups

　　2 serrano chiles

　　2 large garlic cloves

　　4 medium-size ripe tomatoes, or 4 large tomatillos

　　1 small onion

　　Salt

　　1 lime

　　Handful of cilantro leaves, chopped

　　

Step 1

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Put the whole chiles and the garlic cloves, unpeeled in the pan. Core the tomatoes and cut them in half. If cooking tomatillos, remove the husks and cut the tomatillos in half. Add the tomatoes or tomatillos to the pan, and cook the vegetables for 10 minutes or so, until they start to soften and brown. Turn them over to brown on the other side, and cook until tender throughout, then remove from the pan.

　　

Step 2

Squeeze the soft garlic cloves out of the skins. Remove the stems from the serranos and slice the chiles. Combine the garlic and chiles in the mortar and grind to a paste. Add the tomatoes, with or without the skins, and mash them to blend thoroughly with the garlic and chiles. Peel and finely dice the onion, put it in a small strainer, and rinse in water to crisp the onion and take away some of the raw bite. Stir the onion into the salsa and season with salt, a squeeze of lime juice, and the chopped cilantro.

　　Cooks' Note

　　Green tomatillo salsa is very good with diced fresh avocado added at the end; you may need to add a little water to thin the salsa.

　　In the Green Kitchen by Alice Waters. Copyright © 2010. Published by Clarkson Potter. All Rights Reserved.Named the most influential figure in the past 30 years of the American kitchen by Gourmet magazine, ALICE WATERS is the owner of Chez Panisse restaurant and the author of nine cookbooks.