Chimichurri Sauce Recipe and Photos The Luminous Kitchen
A few weeks ago Corey and I went to dinner with some friends. These guys had travelled through South America a few months back so I suggested an Argentine restaurant in St Kilda, Melbourne. I was so wrapped to see them and fully immersed in the conversation, the live band playing and the rich South American wine we were gulping down between fits of laughter that when the food arrived I didn’t even know what we had ordered. Then half way between telling a candid story that after said wine gulping I thought was hilarious and a mouthful of grilled sirloin, a green sauce stopped me mid sentence. (no mean feat)
Oh Chimichurri.
Lemony, garlicky, herbie amazingness.
I even like just saying your name. Chimichurri. That was it. I wanted to take the little bowl and dive right in, head first.
My “Oh my goshness what is that sauce” was met with “you mean you’ve never had Chimichuri?” and I realized all my time praising Italian food for their abundant use of fresh herbs and I had never really experienced much South American cuisine bar some over cheesed nachos and a margarita.
Chimichurri originated in Argentina and is traditionally served with grilled meats. It reminds me a lot of my favorite Italian condiment, Gremolata.
There are many recipes that vary quite a bit but the base always includes flat leaf parsley. I had a whole heap of herbs in the fridge that I needed to use up and this creates an excellent way to ensure your fresh herbs don’t go to waste. You can even use the stalks.
Chimichurri is quite phenomenal over grilled beef and I’m not sure I could accompany a good fillet with anything else now. You can also dot it over salads for an extra fresh punch or no jokes just eat it straight. I did. Oooh imagine it dripping over a grilled mozzarella and prosciutto crostini.
Ok last time …Chimmichurri
- 1 cup flat leaf parsley
- 2 T coriander
- 3 T fresh Oregano
- 1 T fresh thyme
- 2 Cloves garlic
- Zest and juice of 1 Lemon
- ½ cup olive oil
- 2T red wine vinegar
- ¼ tsp salt flakes
- ¼ tsp cracked black pepper
- Roughly chop all the herbs and garlic cloves and chuck in a food processor with the lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil and red wine vinegar
- Process until the sauce becomes a desirable consistency. I like mine to be quite chunky still. You may need to add more olive oil and lemon juice at this point.
- Season with salt and pepper
- Store in the fridge for up to 1 week
[…] it over the meat. Grate the parmesan over the salad and dot the Chimichurri sauce (recipe here) over the whole dish. Scatter the picked […]