Chimichurri- outsourced sauciness

Something a little saucy and full of life hasn’t gone astray in this house in the last week.

As my niece would say, somewhat forlornly;  ‘I’ve got a big cough’.

It’s a car rattling, lion roaring, breath stealing kind of hack. It’s really attractive, I promise you.

The last time I had a cough this size I was in high school. I missed out on a good sweep of a term with whooping cough. I watched all of Twin Peaks. That was the only good bit about it.

Safe to say there wasn’t much activity going on last week- a double curse considering my mum was in London. All the grand plans I had; lunch at Petersham nurseries, long strolls along the Thames, trips to the V and A; they went the way of the wind. There was napping. There was paracetamol.

The life force was hushed. The only thing saucy came dribbled with a spoon.

Any zip and spirit in the flat were outsourced to this chimichurri.  It’s an Argentinean green slurry of parsley, garlic, acid and oil. Luckily it’s a doddle to make with a blender and adds a good bit of kick to most dishes.

It makes happy friends with grilled chicken and fish. But it’s best friends with a large slab of steak.

A few more meals like this and I may be good to go again.  We hope.

Chimichurri
Makes 3/4 cup of chimichurri


(NB You could be more traditional and substitute the orange juice for red wine vinegar, but I like the mellow sweetness it brings. And considering the state of health I was in when I made this, the extra vitamin C didn’t go astray either.)

Equipment
1 microplane/ zester. 1 food processor.


Shopping/ foraging

1 large handful of picked parsley leaves
1 large handful of picked oregano leaves
1 large handful of picked coriander leaves
1 tablespoon of chopped coriander stems
Juice and zest from 1/2 orange
5 cloves of garlic
Sea salt to taste
1/4 cup of good quality olive oil
Fresh chilli to taste

Here’s how we roll

1. Put the herbs, garlic cloves and olive oil in the blender. Whizz until smooth. NB, if you have a small blender (like me), you may need to do in two batches.

2. When the herbs have become a green slurry, add the orange zest and orange juice. Briefly whizz to combine.

3. Add sea salt and fresh chilli to taste (I wouldn’t be shy about either of them).

4. Serve with grilled chicken, fish, or some very large charred rib eye steaks.