Pipian verde (or mole verde de pepitas)
It couldn't last: from one day to the next we were catapulted from autumn into winter with sub-zero temperatures and a sprinkling of snow at the end of November. My poor tomatillos, which had produced such a bumper crop this year, took a bit of a pasting - luckily I managed to salvage quite a few of them before the frosts descended.
Some I simmered in water to cover till just tender but not exploded. Then I froze them in batches, with their cooking liquid, for those times when the longing for tomate verdes gets too much (this tends to happen round about February). Others were husked, chopped and blended raw with some chopped chile, coriander and avocado for a great spontaneous salsa verde. The rest went into a pipian verde, quite probably one of the best and most fragrant Mexican sauces.
PIPIAN VERDE DE PEPITAS (OR MOLE VERDE)
Serves 6
500g green tomatoes
1 onion, quartered
3 cloves garlic, peeled
2 fresh green chiles, topped and chopped
50g each sesame seeds and peeled almonds
75g green pumpkin seeds
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, mashed
4 lettuce leaves, roughly chopped
plenty of cilantro or epazote (Mexican wormseed), roughly chopped
a good pinch of cuminseed
salt
oil to fry the sauce
250-300ml stock [or juice from cooking the green tomatoes]
- Peel away the papery husk from the green tomatoes and discard
- Put the tomatoes in a saucepan with the onion, garlic and chiles and enough water to cover them
- Bring to a boil and simmer gently for 10-15 minutes or until the tomatoes are soft but not totally collapsed (they will burst open)
- Drain the tomatoes and reserve the liquid
- In a large frying pan or sauté pan, heat some oil over moderate heat and fry the seeds till evenly golden (the sesame seeds will pop about a bit) – don’t let them burn or they will be bitter
- Scrape them into the blender
- Fry the onion and garlic till just golden and add this to the liqudizer, together with the lettuce leaves, cilantro or epazote, the cooked tomatoes/onion/garlic and salt to taste
- Blend the mixture, scrape down the sides to dislodge any bits that have stuck, re-blend till smooth
- Heat some more oil in the frying/sauté pan over moderate heat and tip in the blended sauce (it will plop away alarmingly, so keep a lid handy)
- Lower the heat and let the sauce base reduce for 5-10 minutes or until quite thick and pasty
- Add enough stock or reserved juice to thin down the sauce to a coating consistency
- Simmer for a further 15 minutes
- Serve with cooked chicken or pork (simmer in water till tender and use some of the stock to dilute your sauce base)
