I recently purchased a food processor, and I’ve been itching to use it. True, it takes some serious time to clean, but there’s a magical joy in watching the blades go around and realizing “hey, I’m not working one bit to do all this chopping.” If you don’t have a food processor, you can do the chopping for this recipe by hand, and honestly, it’s not that much more work.
According to the font of all knowledge, the name chimichurri is a bastardization of the name of either Jimmy McCurry the Irishman, Jimmy Curry the Englishman, or James C. Hurray the Scot. Either way, it’s an especially fun-sounding name that perfectly describes this vibrant, zesty sauce composed primarily of parsley, garlic, and olive oil.
Look at this beautiful green bowl of deliciousness. It’s so green! So fresh! You’re probably wondering what you can do with it. I’m glad you asked. It can be a sauce for chicken, meat, or fish. You can use it as a marinade for meat. You can use it instead of the usual toppings on a baked potato. Wherever you add it, you’ll get a bright, satisfying zip that will have you thanking Argentina for their culinary contributions.
What you need:
- 1 bunch parsley
- 7 medium-large cloves garlic
- 1/4 onion
- about 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes (depending on how spicy you like things)
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 1 T vinegar Note: Traditionally this should be red or white, but all I had was balsamic and it worked just fine. This is probably some sort of blasphemy though.
- 1/2 c olive oil
What to do:
- Stick the parsley, garlic, onion, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper into the bowl of a food processor. Process until all ingredients are finely chopped.
- Pour into a bowl and stir in vinegar and oil. Thin out with more oil if desired. Serve, or refrigerate overnight to mellow the flavors.
Tags: vegetarian
I’ve actually made something very similar to this before (same ingredients, but without the onion) — very tasty on white-colored fish. A blender works as a drop-in food processor very nicely.