Chimichurri
If you’ve never tried Chimichurri, you’re in for a real treat! It has such a fresh taste from the herbs, a little tang from vinegar, and is the perfect condiment for a juicy steak!
This sauce can be made with a mortar and pestle or a food processor (“pesto-style”) with the blade attachment. If you’re tenacious, you could make this with a chef’s knife, finely mincing every bit. That’s a lot of elbow grease, but if you’re determined, go for it.
The traditional Argentinian way to create this super-condiment is pounding the herbs and aromatics in a mortar and pestle. Crushing and bruising all the ingredients together creates the most aromatic experience.
Since we’re on the topic of a mortar and pestle, you can find these in home stores like HomeGoods and other online stores. Of course, Amazon has a plethora of them. The one photographed was gifted to me by Inox Artisans. I loved the cylindrical form and the pestle is perfectly shaped to get into the corners and impact every ingredient for this recipe. I highly recommend their Primrose Green Marble Mortar and Pestle.
As I mentioned before, yes, you can use a food processor for this recipe, but let me tell you, and I’m not sure you’ll even believe me, but you WILL get better results using a mortar and pestle. The proof is in the smell! Seriously! I’m not kidding you. Pounding your herbs and vegetables (garlic, fresh pepper and shallot) will have a different smell than your processor. The texture will be slightly different, too, but it will be good. Your choice… but I hope I’ve swayed you.
I list the “leaves” of the parsley and cilantro. You could use the tender stems from both herbs, but I would cut off the hardy ones. That’s just my personal preference, though.
Now, once you’ve got this gorgeous green sauce on your counter and the aromas have filled your kitchen, what do you do with it? Serve with that hot, juicy steak (or chicken), toss with your salad greens, serve with your breakfast eggs, or allow some of the oil to drain off and smear onto a hearty sandwich. The list goes on…
Some recipes use lemon juice as their acid. You can certainly use that as a taste preference instead of red wine vinegar.
Other recipes use only parsley for the herbs in Chimichurri. You may come across some recipes that add mint. You can play around with it and adjust if you’d like.
Add your shallot, garlic, and chile in chunks about 1” in size. Since you’re going to be pounding them into oblivion, you don’t need to mince them first.
Once you make this Chimichurri sauce, it just may become a staple in your home.
Chimichurri
Equipment
- Mortar and pestle, helpful, but not necessary
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup Italian (flat-leaf) parsley, leaves and tender stems, packed in
- 1/4 cup cilantro, leaves and tender stems, lightly packed
- 1 tablespoon fresh oregano leaves
- 1 small shallot, chopped
- 5 cloves garlic, smashed
- 1 Fresno chile, or other fresh red chile, seeded and chopped
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1/4 cup excellent-quality extra-virgin olive oil
- Salt and freshly-cracked black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Place the parsley,cilantro, and oregano into the mortar and pestle. Pound and grind the herbs until they look finely minced. Be sure to take in the smells!
- Add the shallot, garlic, and chile and continue to pound until they are in smaller pieces.
- Add the vinegar and oil. Using a spoon, mix everything together. Taste for salt and pepper and adjust as desired.
- You can store it in the refrigerator in an airtight container for a week or two, or you can use it immediately. The oil will solidify somewhat in the refrigerator, but stirring will help it loosen up. Allowing it to sit at room temperature for up to an hour will also allow the oil to liquify again.
Looks like some great ingredient combinations.