This is our take on the Argentinian classic sauce – Chimichurri. We use a traditional blend of fresh flat leaf parsley, fresh garlic and fresh red chilli combined with red wine vinegar and olive oil, then with throw in a big handful of freshly chopped mint to totally change the profile of the sauce.
Think classic mint sauce with that vinegar hit, with some added oomph from the garlic and chilli. It’s absolutely sublime with Lamb – especially our Spiced Lamb Shoulder.
Top Tips
- Cut the herbs nice and fine – try to only run the knife through ince if possible to preserve the natural flavour. Take your time with it and use a very sharp knife.
- Dice the garlic and chilli as fine as you can. Use a sharp knife to do this – first cut into long thin strips and then slice into tiny cubes.
- Use good quality oil for this. The sauce is predominantly oil based so a good quality oil will be preferred and it will show. Think top shelf olive oil if you can, if not, buy the best you can. Alternatively, if you don’t like the olive oil taste, opt for something neutral like rapeseed or groundnut.
- Season well. Without salt this will be blend. Use good salt, like Maldon Sea Salt to bring out those gorgeous aromatic flavours.
- Allow it to infuse before serving. This is important as the oil and herby garlic mixture need time to marry together – we recommend a couple hours for best results, but for the very least leave it for 10-15 mins.
- This keeps in the fridge for a couple days – so make enough to use as leftovers, because if you’re also making our lamb shoulder there are going to be ALOT of leftovers.
Video Tutorial
The Recipe
Minted Chimichurri
A minted version of chimichurri with fresh garlic, fresh red chilli, fresh parsley & mint, good quality olive oil and a splash of red wine vinegar for the notorious zing.
Equipment
- Sharp Knife
Ingredients
- 1 Handful Fresh Parsley
- 1 Handful Fresh Mint Leaves
- 2 tbsp Red Wine Vinegar
- 1 Small Clove Garlic
- 1 Medium Red Chilli de-seeded and inner pith removed
- 10-12 tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 tsp Flaked sea salt
Instructions
- Finely chop the mint and parsley
- Finely dice thered chilli
- Finely chop the garlic
- Mix the herbs, garlic and chilli into a bowl. Add the vinegar and stir.
- Add the oil and combine well.
- Season with salt and taste. If it tastes somewhat bland, add a touch more salt and re-season. Repeat until it tastes perfect but not overly salty. You just want the flavours to come through.
- Let it set for around 10-15 minutes at least to infuse - best after a couple hours.
Notes
- The key is to chop the garlic and the chilli very small - as small as you can. Take your time with it and use a very sharp knife.
- As this sauce is oil based, try and use the best oil you can get. Olive oil is great, but does add the flavour from the oil. If olive oil is not your favourite, use a natural oil like Groundnut or Rapeseed.
- Letting the Chimichurri infuse elevates the flavours so much more than serving it straight away. A couple hours is best.
- Without salt this sauce cannot sing - use good quality flakey sea salt like Maldon Salt to bring out the flavour of the ingredients.
- Serve with some Lamb for new take a mint sauce.
