A few years back we lived in a suburb of Austin for a couple of years (Lakeway), and there a wonderful Argentinean eatery happened to reside across the street from my wife’s office (the Buenos Aires Cafe).
The proprietress was a delightful and somewhat bashful women, a master chef with a wonderful palate, who graced every table with a freshly prepared container of her house chimichurri. It was simple, though with layers of flavor, from the herbal parsley to the heady, pungent garlic to the bite of aged red wine vinegar.
Over the years we played with several chimichurri recipes, and finally went in and begged her to share her recipe; she listed these from memory and left us to wiggle around to find the amounts.
I like to prep this one by hand; even though a food processor is faster, it just doesn’t seem to taste quite as good to us, though that might just be an irrational bias that comes from playing with our food too much.
It gets better with time, though when I make a batch, it never seems to last more than a few days. Today’s batch will be drizzled over pan-seared shrimp tonight…
1 cup fresh parsley leaves, chopped
½ cup fresh cilantro leaves (tender stems too), chopped
1 generous tbsp. fresh oregano leaves, chopped
2 green onions, white and green parts, sliced thin
5-6 medium cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tbsp. fresh lemon zest
¾ cup extra virgin olive oil (or avocado oil)
¼ cup red wine vinegar
½ to 1 tsp. Kosher salt, adjust to taste
½ to 1 tsp. red pepper flakes, adjust to taste
I love to grab a chef’s knife and prepare this by hand (it’s great for your knife skills), though the food processor speeds the process a bit. If using your trusty food processor, combine the first six ingredients and the vinegar and pulse to chop fine.
Now make a sauce. Now whisk in the olive or avocado oil (or drizzle into running food processor).
Finish it up by whisking in the salt, red pepper flakes and even a grind or two of fresh black pepper.
Enjoy.
