Salsa Verde

I don't know about you, but my Italian sauces pretty much consist of tomato sauce, pesto, and alfredo sauce.  There's not too much variation going on here.  So, I was really excited to find out that one of the traditional recipes from Piemonte is for Salsa Verde.  It's a green sauce that's pretty similar to pesto, except it is made with parsley.  This sauce is usually used on boiled meats, but I couldn't think of anything more unappetizing than boiled meats.  So instead, I used it on baked fish, and it was fantastic.  This would also be great on toasted bread or roasted vegetables.  Give it a try and share with us your favorite way to use Salsa Verde!

 

 

Salsa Verde

Adapted from La Cucina: The Regional Cooking of Italy, The Italian Academy of Cuisine, 2009, Rizzoli Publications 

Ingredients:

1 bunch flat leaf parsley

2 cloves garlic

2 anchovies

1/4 cup breadcrumbs

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

2/3 cup olive oil

Process:

1. Put the parsley in a food processor and chop well.  (Note: instead of a food processor feel free to chop finely by hand.)
2. Add the garlic, anchovies, breadcrumbs, cheese, and red wine vinegar to the food processor.  Chop until no big pieces are left.  (Note: instead of a food processor feel free to chop finely by hand.)
3. Slowly add in the olive oil and mix the food processor until smooth.  (Note: instead of a food processor, whisk in the oil.)

Ryan's rating of Salsa Verde: 4.

 

Comments

[Jeanne]

Looks great. I'm thinking this would be nice over anything grilled, fish, chicken, or vegetables, too. Plus by then you can grow a big container garden of parsley to use.

[Jeanne]

P.S. You forgot to give yourself credit for your roasted red pepper sauce in your sauce list at the beginning of this post. It's one of my favorites!

[Thomas Orecchia]

Boiled meets are wonderful, thank you. And there are other variations of this Piemontes pesto sauce. I'll share one here, its from one of my Grandmother's recipe. She was an immigrant from Casello De Annoe, Piemonte:

Ingredients:

1 cup flat leaf Italian parsley

2 one half of lemon rind chopped finely

2 anchovies filet

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon capers

2/3 cup olive oil

Process:

1. Chop parsley finely by hand.
2. Add lemon rind, capers, anchovies and lemon juice.
3. Slowly add olive oil and mix by hand until smooth.

This pesto is typically used on boiled beef tongue and oso buco, veal shanks. Wonderful!