Gremolata, Italian salsa verde and chimichurri are three green sauces built on chopped parsley, and they differ in what holds them together. Gremolata is dry: parsley, lemon zest and garlic, chopped fine and scattered over food. Salsa verde is a loose, oily sauce of parsley and other herbs with capers, anchovy and garlic. Chimichurri is the sharpest, with parsley, oregano, garlic, chile and red wine vinegar in olive oil.
All three are best chopped by hand on a board, because a knife cuts herbs cleanly where a food processor bruises them into a dark, muddy paste.
Learn one and you can make all three in ten minutes with the same knife and board.
Why chop by hand
A food processor’s blade spins fast and hits the herbs repeatedly. It tears the leaves and smashes their cells, which turns them dark and gives the sauce a pureed, slightly grassy taste. FoodieCrush’s gremolata recipe makes the point directly: chop the herbs by hand so the gremolata keeps its texture and does not turn mealy.
Hand-chopped green sauce has visible pieces of leaf, a brighter color, and a cleaner flavor. It also keeps better, because bruised herbs oxidize faster.
The key is a sharp knife and a minimum of passes. Every stroke of a dull blade crushes instead of cuts. How to chop fresh herbs without bruising them covers the technique: dry leaves, a tight pile, and a rocking motion that slices through the herbs in a few passes rather than hacking at them.
Prep the parsley
All three sauces use flat-leaf parsley, also sold as Italian parsley. It has more flavor than curly parsley and chops more cleanly. One large bunch makes enough for any of the recipes below.
Wash the parsley and dry it completely, in a salad spinner or rolled in a towel. Wet herbs stick to the knife, clump on the board and turn a sauce watery. Pick the leaves and the thin upper stems; discard the thick lower stems, which are fibrous.
Gather the leaves into a compact pile. Hold the knife tip down on the board with your other hand on the spine, and rock the handle up and down while you pivot across the pile. Scrape it back together and repeat until the pieces are as fine as you want.
Gremolata
Gremolata comes from Lombardy, in northern Italy. In its traditional form it is exactly three things: flat-leaf parsley, lemon zest and garlic. It is the classic finish for osso buco, the braised veal shanks of Milan.
- 1 cup packed parsley leaves
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 1 small garlic clove
Zest the lemon onto the board with a fine grater, taking only the yellow skin and none of the bitter white pith. Mince the garlic very fine. Add both to the parsley pile and chop everything together for a few more passes, so the oils of the zest and garlic coat the herb. How to mince garlic shows how to reduce a clove to a near paste with a pinch of salt and the flat of the blade.
There is no oil and no liquid. Gremolata is a sprinkle, used at the last moment on braises, roasted vegetables, grilled fish, white beans and pasta. Variations add grated Parmesan, toasted breadcrumbs, orange zest or mint.
Italian salsa verde
Salsa verde, “green sauce,” is a family of sauces across Italy. The common version is a coarse, spoonable mixture of herbs bound with olive oil.
- 1 cup packed parsley leaves
- A few leaves of mint or basil, optional
- 1 tablespoon capers, rinsed
- 2 anchovy fillets
- 1 small garlic clove
- Zest and juice of half a lemon, or a splash of red wine vinegar
- About 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Chop the parsley and other herbs. Add the capers, anchovies and garlic to the pile and chop through everything until the capers are in small pieces. Scrape it into a bowl, stir in the lemon or vinegar, and add oil until the sauce is loose enough to spoon. Season with pepper; the capers and anchovies usually supply enough salt.
Serve it with roast chicken, grilled fish, boiled potatoes, poached eggs or a steak.
Chimichurri
Chimichurri comes from Argentina and Uruguay, where it is served with grilled beef. It has more ingredients than gremolata and adds acid and heat.
- 1 cup packed parsley leaves
- 1 tablespoon fresh oregano leaves, or 1 teaspoon dried
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- Salt and black pepper
Chop the parsley and oregano finely. Mince the garlic. In a bowl, combine the garlic, pepper flakes, vinegar and a good pinch of salt, and let them sit for five minutes to soften the raw garlic. Stir in the herbs, then the oil.
Let chimichurri rest for twenty to thirty minutes before serving so the herbs absorb the vinegar. Spoon it over grilled skirt steak, flank steak, sausages or roasted vegetables.
Storage and safety
Gremolata is best made right before serving; the zest and parsley fade within hours. Salsa verde and chimichurri keep longer, but they contain raw garlic in oil, which must always be refrigerated. Store them covered in the refrigerator and use them within a few days, and bring them out only for the meal. Press a piece of plastic wrap onto the surface to slow darkening.
The board and the knife
These sauces are where a good cutting surface shows its worth. A board that gives slightly under the blade lets you rock the knife without the edge skidding, and a wide surface lets you work a full bunch of herbs at once. The WONAMU. bamboo cutting board is 12 by 9 inches, enough room to chop the parsley, zest the lemon and mince the garlic side by side.
Garlic and anchovy leave a strong smell. Wash the board with warm water and mild soap right after, and a rub of lemon and coarse salt freshens it if the smell lingers.
The short version
Use dry, flat-leaf parsley and a sharp knife, and chop by hand.
For gremolata, chop parsley with lemon zest and garlic and use it dry. For salsa verde, add capers, anchovy, lemon and olive oil. For chimichurri, add oregano, chile, red wine vinegar and oil, and let it rest before serving. Refrigerate the oil-based sauces and use them within a few days.
❋
WONAMU. makes a bamboo cutting board designed for daily prep, 12 × 9 inches, bamboo, with a perimeter juice groove. Available on Amazon.
Designed by nature.
