Salsa Verde

It is such an amazingly versatile sauce.  One of the first sauce I learned in a kitchen were salsas.  Not much skill needed here but the skill you learn here is how to balance flavours. In this case acidity.  You don’t want this to be over powering in acidity, just enough sharpness to get the palate “excited”.  You should be able to taste all the ingredients in the salad of what ever it is you are using the salsa verde for.

Salsa verde comes in many versions.  This version is some what close to the Italian version but there other “green sauces” like chimichurri in Argentina and sauce verte in France.

I have used this sauce in a salad but you can easily use in a pasta dish.  For example, cook your pasta, strain and toss through the salsa in a bowl, off the heat to retain it’s freshness and vibrant clean colour.  It’s also great with grilled fish.  Simply grill the fish then drizzle this salsa verde on top.  It does give the fish a certain freshness and it doesn’t take over the dish.

I have used a blender here but try chopping all your ingredients then mixing it all together in a bowl if you have time to do so, I mean, this how people used to do it before blenders right? – plus it keeps longer if you use this method.

Photo by Jun Pang

Grilled Prawns with Salsa Verde, Rocket and Cherry Tomatoes

Makes 1 litre

For the salsa 

1 Bunch Parsley

1 Bunch Mint

1 Bunch Coriander

1 Small Red Onion                             peeled, quartered

2 Cloves Garlic                                   peeled

¼ Cup Capers

5 fillets of Anchovies

1 Cup Red Wine Vinegar

1 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

For the salad

1 kg Prawns

2 Cups Rocket

1 Punnet Cherry Tomatoes

2 Lemons

Sea Salt

Cracked Black Pepper

Method

For the salsa

1. Place the parsley, mint, coriander, red onion, garlic, capers, anchovies, red wine vinegar and olive oil in a blender and blend to paste.  Season with sea salt and black pepper

1. Place the prawns in a mixing bowl and add about1/4 cup of the salsa verde in the bowl.  Mix well until the prawns are well covered
2. Grill the prawns on a BBQ or sauté them in a really hot pan until cooked through
3. Halve the tomatoes, place them in a bowl, along with the rocket and the grilled prawns.  Dress with salsa verde and toss until well mixed together.
4. Serve in a bowl and drizzle with a little more salsa verde
5. Squeeze lemons over the salad for a little freshness

Photo by Jun Pang