Chimichurri Sauce

I love herbs! Love everything about them. Love growing them, picking them, chopping them and most of all bashing the crap out of them to make a great pesto.

In this case, Chimichurri, a wonderful Argentinean green sauce essentially made from herbs, garlic, vinegar and olive oil. Unlike pesto there are no nuts of any sort and no parmesan cheese.

What you do have is wonderful, fragrant and often pungent sauce that you smother your steak with to bring it up a level. I can’t get enough.

I like to use a mortar and pestle, especially after a long day in the office. I find it smoothing and a wonderful form of stress relief to grab that pestle and pound away, thump thump thump! I love the satisfaction of seeing what was once a firm green stem wilt away as they incorporate the surrounding flavours and release its natural oils. By all means use a food processor, it’s certainly easier and less time consuming, but you miss out on the most exciting part of making this sauce

The best part of this recipe, is that you can alter it to whatever herb you have in the garden. The quantities are loose. Don’t like dill? Don’t have basil? Leave it out! Love oregano? Add more oregano! I would be inclined to not use woody herbs though, like thyme or rosemary.

Traditional Chimichurri Sauce is made using oregano and parsley only but I find I just chuck in whatever is growing in the patch at the time. This is my favourity flavour combo:

Chimichurri Sauce

1 cup flat leaf parsley leaves
1 cup basil leaves
½ cup dill leaves
½ cup oregano leaves
½ cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 tablespoons vinegar – red/white wine, balsamic, apple cider; feel free to experiment!
3 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon sea salt flakes
3 small chillis (optional)

Wash your herbs well to remove any gritty sand/soil. Be sure to dry them properly to remove any excess water. Process the herbs and garlic and chilli in the food processor or mortar and pestle until soft and well combined. Stir in the oil, vinegar, salt and serve. This can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.

Serve it over ripe tomatoes with bocconcini for a lovely salad, on char grilled sourdough bread, in your next burger, over a nice medium-rare steak or over some grilled chicken breast. The uses are endless..

 

 

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