Chimichurri

Adapted from Vegetable Heaven
Yield: 1/2 cup (easily doubled)
Preparation time: 10 minutes


Chimichurri is the "national sauce" of Argentina, and is also common in Honduras and other Latin American countries. It si a complex green paste, similar to a pesto, but containing a greater variety of herbs, and a tartness from the presence of vinegar. Chimichurri is normally served with roasted or grilled meat or seafood, but it's also delicious on cooked potatoes and other vegetables, pasta, grains, Pizzettas, Crostini, and sandwiches.

  • Roast the garlic ahead of time (see below)
  • This keeps for a week or two if stored in a tightly lidded container in the refrigerator. Just use as needed, as you would any condiment.
1 cup (packed) minced cilantro
1/4 cup (packed) minced parsley
1/4 cup minced scallions
1 tablespoon minced fresh oregano (or 1 teaspoon dried oregano)
6 medium cloves roasted garlic paste (recipe follows)
A pinch of cayenne
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
  1. Place the cilantro, parsley, scallions, and oregano in a food processor, and mince very fine. Add the garlic, cayenne, vinegar, salt, and pepper, and process to a paste, with the food processor running until everything is fully incorporated. Drizzle in the oil at the very end.
  2. Transfer to a tightly lidded container, and refrigerate until use.


Roasted Garlic Paste

Yield: One 3-ounce bulb yields about 1 tablespoon Roasted Garlic Paste

I use this ingredient in so many of my recipes, I am giving you a method here, at the front of the book, to encourage you to make Roasted Garlic Paste all the time. Keep it around, not just for using in the recipes, but also for spreading on bread, plain pasta, baked potatoes... anything. If you drizzle the top surface of the paste with a little olive oil, and keep it in an airtight container in the refrigerator, this stuff will keep at least a week. One 3-ounce garlic bulb yields about a tablespoon of Roasted Garlic Paste.

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a small baking pan with foil. Trim the tips from several heads of garlic, and stand the bulbs upright on the foil. Roast for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the bulb feels soft when gently pressed. (Larger bulbs take longer to cook.) When cool enough to handle, break the bulb into individual cloves, and squeeze out the roasted garlic pulp into a small bowl.