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Chimichurri Sauce - Food Gypsy

Chimichurri – An Essential Taste of Summer

Adding to our essential sauces of the barbecue season with a tangy Chimichurri Sauce from South America.  In it’s native Argentina it is the quintessential condiment for grilled meats, an Argentine pesto if you will, combining parsley, garlic, onion, olive oil, and vinegar for a powerful punch.

This grilling season we thought we’d give you three unique falvours to make your backyard feasts something special.  First was Chef B’s French inspired Pri Pri, to add a zippy flavorful char to your favorite grilled stuff.  Then a touch of smoke and bourbon with this Gypsy’s Smokey Jack Daniels Ketchup, which has been a huge hit around our coals this summer on everything from grilled sausage to juicy burgers.  Now how about a bright tasting, green sauce that will keep the vampires at bay?!

Chimichurri makes a marvelously garlicky marinade for red meats and chicken.  A spoonful of chimichurri on the plate as a condiment makes your steak taste like it was dragged through the garden, and I’m nuts about it on a cold sandwich with leftover barbecue and a hint of mayo.  You can use it on seafood, lamb and even pasta, it’s pretty versatile stuff and once you get a taste for it, all you want is more.

Like many traditional recipes, the variations and added flavours, region to region, can be diverse. In Mexico, you find Chimicurri with a hit of cilantro. In Uraguay, Nicarga & Columbia you might find it spiced with paprika, cumin, thyme, lemon or bay leaf.  Then there are those of us who take our favorite falvours from the herb garden, and add a bit of spicy heat to our chimichurry.  Yea, we’re crazy like that.  

Chimichurri with heat - Food Gypsy

Chimichurri Sauce – Recipe

Prep/cooking time: 20 minutes

1 cup flat leaf parsley, stems removed
1 cup cilnatro, stems removed
8 cloves garlic, chopped
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 lemon, juiced
1/4 cup red onion, chopped
1/2 teaspoon dried chili flakes or chili oil
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt

Method:

Thoroughly wash all herbs and remove stems. Roughly chop garlic & onions.  Add all ingredients except chilies, salt & pepper in processor and pulse until smooth.  Season with salt, pepper & chilies to desired levels, add extra olive oil if needed.  Transfer to bowl or jar and let stand at room temperature to infuse.

Any reminder can be kept, sealed in the refrigerator for two to three weeks.  Ha, like it lasts that long, what was I thinking.

In the food processor - Food Gypsy

 

Cori Horton

Fearlessly cooking in her home kitchen just outside Ottawa, Canada; Cori Horton is a food photographer, food marketing consultant, recipe developer and sustainability advocate. A Cordon Bleu trained chef, Cori spent five years as the owner of Nova Scotia's Dragonfly Inn and now shares all things delicious - right here.

Comments (2)

  1. Love love love love *LOVE* chimichurri. I make mine with fresh oregano leaves instead of cilantro, and I also thin it out with—get this—salt water. Well, not *salt* salt water: I dissolve salt in water and then use that.

    It’s a crazy trick I learned from Francis Mallman’s supremely awesome book Seven Fires (http://www.amazon.ca/Seven-Fires-Grilling-Argentine-Way/dp/1579653545). But it works so well. It lends a savoury roundness to balance the herbs.

    1. Hi John,
      We too love, love, LOVE chimichurri! Also love the idea of thinning with salted water.
      Isn’t Mallman’s book A-MAZING!!!! I’m just dying to cook in hay! Soon… :)

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