Salsa de Tomatillo Asado con Chipotle: Roasted Tomatillo and Chipotle Salsa

On a recent trip, I grabbed a copy of Saveur to read on the flight. Most excited about a 2 page spread of different salsas, I immediately marked at least 3 that I wanted to make upon our return home. This roasted tomatillo and chipotle is the first of those.

I wasn't sure how I felt upon first tasting this salsa. The sour of the tomatillos seemed to clash initially with the smoky chipotle flavor for me (I've made this twice now, and realize I just didn't like too much tomatillo. 0.68 lb of tomatillo :-) and upping the garlic and dried chipotle it was perfect from the get go). Could also be that I was incredibly high off the Doña success and stuck on that flavor profile. That said, this new salsa quickly grew on me and Scott liked it from the get go. Super easy to make, and I gave half of the batch a quick addition of some agave nectar to serve over salmon...keeping the rest as is to eat with chips. Delicious both ways. It doesn't make a whole bunch, but you can easily double. OH and I almost forgot, I added in a minced chipotle in adobo for extra heat, since there really wasn't much to speak of from just the dried chiles.

Salsa de Tomatillo Asado con Chipotle:
(Adapted from Saveur Magazine)

8oz+ tomatillos, husked, rinsed and left whole (I think I used 6 medium to small)
7 cloves of garlic, left whole and you can leave them in their l'il skins til done roasting
4 dried chipotle chiles
1 chipotle pepper in adobo (my addition)
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1/2 cup water
agave if desired...try splitting the batch and only adding to half

Preheat oven to 500.
On a foil-lined baking sheet, roast tomatillos for 10 minutes, flip over, then roast 10 minutes more.
While tomatillos roast, heat a dry cast iron skillet to medium-low on the stove top.
Toast dried chiles and garlic for about 10 minutes, or until there are some charred spots on the chiles and garlic, and the garlic has softened a bit.
Place tomatillos (and any accumulated juices), garlic, dried chiles, 1 chipotle in adobo and 1/2 tsp salt and water into a blender and blend until smooth.

Doctor the salsa with some agave if you'd like...it was very nice served over salmon with black beans and squash with this addition. Without agave it's great just scooped up with tortilla chips.
Great on eggs too.