A simple uncooked sauce of fresh herbs brings aliveness to the table. Salsa verde (green sauce) is a versatile sauce of parsley and olive oil flavored with shallots, capers, and lemon zest. The basic recipe can be enhanced with additional ingredients to make it more pungent and complex. It will brighten and complement many dishes, especially grilled vegetables, meat, and fish.

　　

Ingredients

makes about 3/4 cup

　　1 garlic clove, peeled

　　1 tablespoon capers, rinsed

　　2 salt-packed anchovy fillets, rinsed (optional)

　　1 shallot, peeled and finely diced

　　Grated zest of 1 lemon

　　1/2 cup Italian parsley leaves, washed, dried, and chopped

　　About 1/2 cup olive oil

　　Salt and fresh-ground black pepper

　　

Step 1

In a mortar, pound the garlic and capers (and anchovies, if you like) to a paste. (Or, if you don’t have a mortar, chop them together very fine.) Stir in the shallot, lemon zest, freshly chopped parsley, and olive oil, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Let the salsa sit for 30 minutes or so for the flavors to develop, then taste again for seasoning. Add more or less oil depending on what you’re serving it with; grilled meat and vegetables might want less oil, fish a bit more.

　　

Variations to salsa verde

Step 2

Add other fresh tender-leaved herbs to the parsley, such as chervil, chives, cilantro, tarragon, basil, or mint.

　　

Step 3

Use diced red onion in place of the shallot and eliminate the garlic.

　　

Step 4

Add finely chopped fresh chile pepper to spice it up.

　　

Step 5

Add chopped hard-cooked egg and a little Dijon-style mustard.

　　

Step 6

Add lightly toasted and chopped almonds, walnuts, or pine nuts.

　　

Step 7

Add lemon juice or vinegar, but just before serving so the acid doesn’t discolor the herbs.

　　Cooks' Note

　　A similar sauce without oil, called gremolata, is made of chopped garlic, parsley, and lemon zest; it makes a bright garnish for grilled foods, braised meats, or pasta.

　　In the Green Kitchen by Alice Waters. Copyright © 2010. Published by Clarkson Potter. All Rights Reserved.Named the most influential figure in the past 30 years of the American kitchen by Gourmet magazine, ALICE WATERS is the owner of Chez Panisse restaurant and the author of nine cookbooks.