Sunday, July 4, 2010

Salsa Verde

Dear Blog,
It's been a while. This 4th of July 3-day weekend I made some of Alice Water's Salsa Verde (from her book "The Art Of Simple Food"). After seeing it on Chez Panisse's menu (on their website chezpanisse.com, where I gawk sometimes) so many times, I wanted to see what all the fuss was about (I also had a huge bunch of parsley sitting in my refrigerator) and I must say, it is quite wonderful.
At first I thought it was just pesto made with parsley, but it's not. It's fresher and lighter in flavor and goes with pretty much anything. I suppose it's kind of like a chimichurri, but without the spices and without vinegar. Anyways, here's the recipe:

1/3 c. finely chopped parsley (leaves and small stems only)
zest of 1 lemon
1/2 tsp. salt
A few grinds of pepper
1 finely minced garlic clove
1/2 c. olive oil

Mix and taste for salt. Let sit for 1hr (or more) to let the flavors meld.
--The recipe also says 1tbs. capers, rinsed, but I didn't have any on hand, so I ommitted them. I didn't miss them, quite honestly. I also may have used more parsley and less olive oil--I wasn't too exact about the measurments and you needn't be either.

Last night I served my salsa verde with some baked flounder with lemon squeezed on top. (Adding lemon juice to the salsa verde is very good, but should be done right before serving to prevent discoloration)

Today I served my salsa verde with some angel hair pasta and two mashed poached eggs. These eggs were also sitting in my fridge and were about to expire, so I used both. It was rather rich, so I'm sure one egg would be fine. It could have also benefited from a squeeze of lemon, but, alas, I used all my lemon yesterday.

I still have 2/3 of a bunch of parsely left, so I'll probably be making more, and as should you.

Stay cool,
Patty