Where's the (green) sauce?
Undoubtedly one of the most popular types of sauce for steak worldwide is a “green sauce”. Argentina has Chimichurri, Morocco has Chermoula, Italy and Mexico both have Salsa Verde but they are very different to each other and the French have Persillade. Almost every cuisine around the world has versions of a green sauce – essentially an uncooked sauce featuring fresh green herbs, a good quality oil, and an acid component (vinegar or lemon juice). I love to grab whatever I have on hand – sometimes I’ll use mainly parsley and other times I’ll use coriander. You can add heat to give it extra zing, or even a boiled egg to help emulsify it and anchovies for extra umami.
We have put together some great, fast and super easy recipes for these great herb sauces. And the best bit is that they pair with other meats almost as well as they pair with our famous Green Hills Natural Porterhouse.
Chermoula
Use it as a condiment to spoon over fish, chicken, or steak. Swirl it into a pot of tender white beans or in lentil soup. Spoon it over roasted veggies, on your morning avocado toast or as a delicious marinade for any grilled meats.
1 tsp each of cumin & coriander seeds, toasted, 1 cup of coriander (leaves and stems), 1 cup flat-leaf parsley, 1 tsp fresh ginger, 1 tsp fresh thyme, 2 garlic cloves, ½ cup good quality oil, zest and juice from half lemon. Chilli flakes and salt to taste. Add to a food processor and pulse until well combined but not too smooth.
Chimichurri
½ cup good quality oil, 2 tbsp red wine vinegar, ½ cup finely chopped parsley, 3-4 cloves garlic (minced), 1 tbsp finely chopped red chilli, ¾ tsp dried oregano, 1 tsp coarse salt or salt flakes, pepper to taste.
Make sure the ingredients are finely chopped. Mix together and allow to sit for at least 10 minutes but preferably for 2 hours.
You can also use a food processor but it does lose a little of its magic.
Persillade
A traditional French parsley sauce, the name comes from the French word persil which means parsley. You can omit the anchovy and capers but they do boost the flavour and you can hardly tell they are even in there.
2½ cups flat-leaf parsley, 6 chives or 2 spring onions (green part only), 2-3 garlic cloves (to taste), 2 tsp lemon zest, 3 tbsp lemon juice, 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil, 4-6 anchovies (optional), 1 tbsp capers (optional). Pop it all in the food processor and pulse. Every few pulses, scrape down the sides of the bowl. Keep pulsing until it is like pesto. Best to make it at least an hour before using it to develop the flavours.
Salsa Verde (Italian)
Known as bagnet vert in Piedmont, it literally means green sauce. This is perfect with roast lamb and other grilled meats, as a dip, a salad dressing, in a potato salad and even as a pizza topping. Again, like chimichurri, you can choose to use a food processor for ease but if you can take the extra time to finely hand chop everything, you will have a much more rustic sauce that is way more pleasing. The yolk from a hard-boiled egg is often used to add a hint of creaminess to the sauce which is quite piquant and briny.
Bunch of flat-leaf parsley, hard-boiled egg yolk (optional), 1 tbsp capers in salt (washed thoroughly), 4 anchovies, 1-2 garlic cloves, 2 tbsp white wine vinegar, ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil, salt to taste. Chop everything up very finely and combine. If you like it thick and sloppy, use more oil. If you prefer it to be drier (as a spread or topping), you can reduce the oil. If using a food processor, start with a couple of tablespoons of oil and increase if needed.