I came across this salsa at World Market about a month ago, but somehow just didn't get around to using it until today. My primary use for it was on a pork shoulder in the crock pot, but I also tried some on it's own. Alone, it didn't wow me. It had good flavor, but not as much pumpkin flavor as I was expecting, given that the word "pumpkin" is primary on the label along with a picture of a pumpkin.
Ingredients, as listed on the label: tomatillo, tomato, pureed pumpkin, filtered water, diced pumpkin, onion, chipotle chiles, garlic, salt, evaporated cane juice, calcium chloride, citric acid.
You can see that pumpkin wasn't listed as either the first or second ingredient, and the tomatillo and tomato flavors somewhat overpowered the pumpkin. The pumpkin flavor did come through, it was just more subtle than I was expecting. However, in general I thought it was a good, somewhat unique salsa. At a "medium" heat level, I would definitely consider including this on a party buffet/snack table with a mixed crowd if I didn't want to take the time to make some from scratch.
After trying just a tad on it's own, I decided to add a bit of achiote when using it on the pork. Again, the primary flavors that came through were the tomato and tomatillo, but since I had already tried it on it's own I wasn't expecting a strong pumpkin flavor at this point. It retained just a touch of heat after sitting in the crock pot all day on the low setting, which was good for a "medium" salsa.
Overall it was a good salsa for something mass-marketed, just not what I was expecting in terms of pumpkin flavor. If I wanted to get closer to what I was expecting, I would probably roast some pumpkin and add it diced into the salsa, or a add bit more puree, or possibly both, depending upon the desired consistency. On the other hand, if you're going to do that, you might as well get any tomato-tomatillo salsa you like and add pumpkin to it.
Ingredients, as listed on the label: tomatillo, tomato, pureed pumpkin, filtered water, diced pumpkin, onion, chipotle chiles, garlic, salt, evaporated cane juice, calcium chloride, citric acid.
You can see that pumpkin wasn't listed as either the first or second ingredient, and the tomatillo and tomato flavors somewhat overpowered the pumpkin. The pumpkin flavor did come through, it was just more subtle than I was expecting. However, in general I thought it was a good, somewhat unique salsa. At a "medium" heat level, I would definitely consider including this on a party buffet/snack table with a mixed crowd if I didn't want to take the time to make some from scratch.
After trying just a tad on it's own, I decided to add a bit of achiote when using it on the pork. Again, the primary flavors that came through were the tomato and tomatillo, but since I had already tried it on it's own I wasn't expecting a strong pumpkin flavor at this point. It retained just a touch of heat after sitting in the crock pot all day on the low setting, which was good for a "medium" salsa.
Overall it was a good salsa for something mass-marketed, just not what I was expecting in terms of pumpkin flavor. If I wanted to get closer to what I was expecting, I would probably roast some pumpkin and add it diced into the salsa, or a add bit more puree, or possibly both, depending upon the desired consistency. On the other hand, if you're going to do that, you might as well get any tomato-tomatillo salsa you like and add pumpkin to it.