Time Saver of the Week: Italian Salsa Verde
Photo credit: Food52
Pantry staples like canned tuna, boxed pasta and bread can save dinnertime when the weather turns brisk and a dash to the store is simply not gonna happen.
But so can a great condiment. One we often forget about—since its Old World sibling tomato sauce steals the spotlight—is Italian salsa verde.
This is one of those rare sauces that can be blended in two minutes using almost anything you have on hand—soft, fresh herbs, a bit of garlic, olive oil, capers and some sort of acid such as lemon juice (our fave) or white wine vinegar—plus anchovies or hot peppers, to taste.
Jam-packed with piquant, bright, incredibly satisfying flavors, here’s how to use it:
Use it as a marinade for meat (as none other than Mario Batali does)
Slather it into any sort of sandwich (like chef Caroline Fidanza of Brooklyn’s Saltie does (recipe below!)
Best of all: it keeps in the fridge for several days or as long as several weeks, if stored in a tightly sealed jar and covered with a layer of oil, like pesto. Here’s one of our favorite salsa verde recipes:
Salsa Verde
courtesy of Caroline Fidanza and Saltie: A Cookbook
Ingredients
2 cups mixed herbs: parsley, mint, dill, scallion, cilantro
1/4 cup capers
1 fresh red chile (optional), seeded andthinly sliced
2 large cloves garlic (optional), thinly sliced
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1–2 lemons
Sea salt
Directions
In a bowl, toss the herbs with the capers, chile and garlic (if using), and olive oil. Add the juice of 1 lemon and a small pinch of sea salt. Taste. The flavor should be bright and lemony. Adjust as necessary with lemon and salt.
