Roasted Zucchini and Tomatillo Salsa Verde

By this time of the summer, anyone who has a zucchini plant (or two… I never learn) in their garden is starting to get desperate for some creative ways to use zucchini. Sure, there are recipes for zucchini bread, sauteed zucchini with a bit of garlic and butter, zucchini ribbon salad, more zucchini bread, zucchini quesadillas, stuffed zucchini, grilled zucchini, and the list goes on… But, once they’ve all been made (twice), it’s time for something new.

Yesterday, I picked the first few tomatillos from our garden. I hadn’t intended to start picking the tomatillos yet, but the kiddo started grabbing a few off of the massive plant. I didn’t want them to go to waste, so I picked a few more of the larger ones and decided to make some roasted salsa.

While I was out there, I discovered 8 (yes, e-i-g-h-t) new zucchini on my plants. I’ve already had my share of raw zucchini ribbons, zucchini bread, and an assortment of other zucchini recipes. I’ve also frozen 16 cups shredded zucchini to use later in the year. So, I decided to try adding some zucchini to my salsa. It worked beautifully.

I roasted the zucchini and tomatillos with some jalapeños and poblanos (from the garden!) as well as some onion and garlic. The zucchini rounded out the salsa and added a touch of sweetness. It also helped stretch my few precious tomatillos into a generous batch of salsa for dipping!

Roasted Zucchini and Tomatillo Salsa Verde
Makes about 2 cups

• 1 ½ cups roughly chopped zucchini
• 1 ½ cups roughly chopped tomatillos
• 2 jalapeño peppers, seeded and roughly chopped
• 2 poblano peppers, seeded and roughly chopped
• ½ large sweet onion, cut into chunks
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt
• ¼ cup cilantro leaves, packed
• 1 lime

Preheat the oven to 400F.

Combine the zucchini, tomatillos, jalapeños, poblanos, onion, and garlic in a large baking dish or roasting pan.  Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with a pinch of salt.  Toss to evenly coat.  Roast for 40 – 45 minutes, until the vegetables are soft and slightly charred.

Transfer the roasted vegetables to a blender or food processor.  Add the cilantro and the juice from the lime. Blend until smooth.  Taste and adjust the amount of salt, if necessary.