Chimichurri sauce served with polenta and tostones
Chimichurri (also spelled chimmichurri) is the quintessential sauce of Argentina, and deserves to be better known in the northerly climes. It is somewhat like an Italian pesto, but made from parsley, and without the cheese or nuts to thicken it. Like pesto, it comes together in a food processor with just a few minutes of work.
In South America, chimichurri is usually served with steak, but you can definitely make a home for it in a vegetarian kitchen as well. It has a strong, herbaceous bite that pairs well with the smokiness of grilled vegetables, cuts the richness of fried foods, or amps up the flavor of a mild dish.
In the picture above, you can see I served the chimichurri with mild Argentinian polenta
Generally speaking, the essential ingredients of a chimichurri recipe are parsley, olive oil, garlic, onion, salt and pepper and something acidic. I chose to embellish this version by including cilantro, red onion, a bit of sherry vinegar, and a few capers. Other common variations add chili flakes, paprika, or dried oregano. Once you establish the basic flavor profile, there is plenty of room to tweak it to match your taste and what you are serving it with. (I apologize in advance to any chimichurri purists who feel that such variations are heresy, and remind you that the recipe isn't 100% standardized even in its homelands!)
Chimichurri, My Way
Yields 2/3 cup
Vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free
- 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 garlic clove, peeled and chopped fine or pressed
- 1 cup well-rinsed parsley leaves, lightly packed
- 1 cup well-rinsed cilantro leaves, lightly packed
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
- 1/4 cup red onion, minced (or add to food processor before herbs)
- 1 tablespoon capers, rinsed
- In a small food processor, combine the olive oil and garlic and run until the garlic is well distributed. If you don't feel like mincing the onion by hand, you can add it in chunks now, but it won't look as nice. If you don't have a small food processor, you might need to make a double batch as a full size machine probably won't work well on this small quantity.
- Add the parsley, cilantro, salt, pepper and vinegar and process until minced but with still a bit of texture left in the leaves.
- Remove from the food processor and mix in the onions and capers.
- Let rest at least 30 minutes, then taste and adjust salt, pepper and vinegar as needed.
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Had never heard of chimichurri until yesterday and now this is the second post I’ve seen mentioning it! I’ll definitely be bookmarking this one.
Beautiful plate. I love the idea of chimichurri with polenta, and those tostones look fantastic.
We had chimichurri with roasted vegetables on our recent trip to Argentina. Funnily, that was the only time I had chimichurri in the country, and I had to specifically ask for it! I guess because chimichurri is typically served with meat, my vegetarian orders never came with chimichurri.
I love the intensity of the ingredients here, I bet it tasted great with polenta. Youve created a beautiful plate here.
Great photo! We had some Argentine neighbors when I was growing up and they would always add a bunch of fresh oregano to their chimichurri sauce.
Isn’t that kind of coincidence odd? Clearly you are meant to make some soon.
That sounds really good. I like the resinous quality of fresh oregano, it is
totally different from the dried stuff.
That looks and sounds absolutely delicious!! The sherry vinegar, makes it sound extra enticing – gotta have a kick!
Ooo, what a lovely vegan option for a pesto-style thing…thanks for the link!!
I heard on NPR that chimichurri is supposed to be one of the top five flavors of 2009–way to have your finger on the pulse of food culture!
Nice, for once I’m ahead of the curve
.
I just got back from a trip to Argentina where I spent a fair bit of time trying to come up with good veggie options that could effectively stand up to chimichurri. I’d often request it along side my pizza, which made a pretty delicious combination, but I think polenta might be an even better idea now that I’m back to my own kitchen. Good thinkin!
Yum! I was just looking for a chimichurri recipe and this looks great. I had one once that seemed to have a sweet-hot flavor as well. Have you ever added sugar?
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@Otehlia I've never added sugar to chimichurri… I could see where a very small amount might be good. Sweet/hot would be quite different, I'd have to think about that one!
While it’s probably not a true chimichurri, there’s a vendor at my local farmer’s market who sells a “pesto” made without nuts and cheese. Olive oil, parsley, garlic, and chopped serrano chilis. I swear it’s the most delicious thing ever… the heat of the chilis is a surprise because you don’t expect it.
Sounds like chimichurri to me! Delicious stuff.
Yeah, that’s what I thought. Oddly enough, it’s a middle Eastern vendor who sells this, too. Which kinda cracks me up.
They also do olives in the chimichurri… different types of olives mixed in with the sauce. Since the olives are whole, it’s hard to eat them but ever so easy to pick out the olives and snack on them, and spread the remaining sauce on bread.