Now that it’s officially fall and American football season, get prepared for some tasty snack ideas for tailgating, parties or just watching at home in front of your TV (if your cable provider will actually show the game you want to watch). Last week’s veggie share included tomatillos, the small green fruit that is a staple of Central and South American cuisines.

The best use for tomatillos I know was in an amazing drink I had years ago at Astrid y Gaston in Lima, Peru. While I’m still attempting to perfect that recipe involving pisco, in the meantime, you can enjoy this spicy salsa, which is a lot easier to make.

Most salsa recipes call for onions, but I decided to omit them to make for a less chunky puree that actually brought out the intensity of the flavors even more. And I kept the color green by using a green hot pepper and a yellow tomato, but you can certainly add red if you prefer or don’t have access to any yellow tomatoes. As always, adjust the heat level to suit your tastes. This is a great dip for TV watching. Try it with some pumpkin tortilla chips (yes, you can literally find pumpkin in everything this year). Or get fancier by topping crostini with grilled flank steak and the salsa. Now I’m ready for some football!

Roasted Tomatillo Salsa
Serves plenty.

Ingredients

5 tomatillos
1 hot pepper
1 large clove of garlic (skin on)
1 small onion (optional)
1 tbsp of fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped
Juice from half a lime
Kosher salt
Ground pepper
Olive oil

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly coat the tomatillos and pepper with some olive oil and place on a baking tray. Roast tomatillos, peppers and the garlic in the middle of the oven (you can also roast an onion too, if desired) for about 12-15 minutes.

Post-roasting

Let cool enough to handle. Remove the stems from the tomatillos and pepper. Peel the garlic. Puree the tomatillos, pepper, garlic and any roasting juices in a food processor until well blended. Add the cilantro and lime. Combine and taste.

Everything goes in the food processor.

Sprinkle with some salt and ground pepper as needed. Chill for at least an hour to mix the flavors if using as a dip. Serve as desired.