Tomatillo Roll

Category: Cocktails & Appetizers | Blog URL: http://familyspiceblog.blogspot.com/2009/07/tomatillo-roll.html

This recipe was entered in The Foodista Best of Food Blogs Cookbook contest, a compilation of the world’s best food blogs which was published in Fall 2010.

Photo: Family Spice

Ingredients

5 smalls tomatillos, quartered

1 serrano chile, seeded and coarsely chopped (optional)

1/2 cup onion, quartered

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 avocado

8 ounces brick of cream cheese

tortilla chips

Preparation

Place cream cheese between two sheets of aluminum foil and using a rolling pin, roll the cream cheese flat until approximately 1/8-inch thick.

Put in refrigerator until ready to use.

Using a food processor purée tomatillos, serrano chile, onion, cilantro and salt.

Put tomatillo mixture in a colander and strain excess juice and set aside.

Remove cream cheese from the refrigerator and slowly peel back one sheet of aluminum foil from cream cheese.

Spoon strained tomatillo mixture along the center of flattened cream cheese, reserving a teaspoon for garnishing.

Score half of the avocado and spoon out the cubes over the tomatillo mixture.

Carefully fold one side of flattened cream cheese over the tomatillo mixture, peeling off the foil.

Fold over the other side of the cream cheese and peel foil off the cream cheese.

Place tomatillo roll onto serving plate, seam-side down, and remove the remaining aluminum foil.

Garnish the top of the roll with reserved tomatillo mixture.

Serve with tortilla chips.

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About

Summer has finally hit San Diego and our weather has definitely heated up! Lucky for us, we have great friends with pools and we get invited often enough for my kids to say, “I don’t want to swim today, AGAIN?!!!” But, as always, when they get together with their friends, they forget about their complaints and they have a blast. And, so do I, I must say!!

When I went my friend, Hendrika’s, for a pool play date, I brought over the ingredients for one of my favorite appetizers, the tomatillo roll. Okay, I admit, I have a lot of favorites, but this one is among my top 5 all time favorites. So, that should tell you a lot!

I have made this myself a couple times, but I needed to watch Hendrika do it, because it gets a little tricky at the end. And since Hendrika introduced this fabulous appetizer to me, I went straight to her! She discovered this recipe at a cooking class she took years ago in Mexico and it really is a crowd pleaser.

First, you purée in a food processor the tomatillos, serrano chile, onion, cilantro and salt. Next, because of the juice of the tomatillo can make your fillings too wet, you want to strain out the excess juice of the mixture.

This salsa is then combined with avocado and this makes up the filling for the cream cheese blanket that surrounds it. Next, you put one brick of cream cheese between two sheets of aluminum foil and roll it until it is about 1/8-inch thick. The tricky part comes when you peel off the foil. You have to work fast otherwise the cream cheese gets too soft and it will stick to the foil. If that happens, you should put the rolled out cream cheese in the refrigerator to harden again.

Spoon the tomatillo mix and avocado chunks down the center of your cream cheese blanket. Fold one side of the cream over the tomatillo mix, while gently peeling back the foil. Now do the same with the other side of the cream cheese, making sure the two sides meet and overlap. Place the tomatillo roll onto your serving platter, seam-side down and gently peel off the remaining foil. If your roll starts to crack, no worries. Just wet your fingers and reconnect the cream cheese.

TA-DAH! Serve with tortilla chips and margaritas and you’ve got a party! This unique appetizer will get your taste buds moving and shaking!! And of course, your guests will be asking YOU for this fabulous recipe!

For the tomatillo roll recipe, check out Family Spice!