Homemade Chimichurri Sauce Recipe
Chimichurri is a typical sauce and condiment, used in South American countries to accompany grilled meat. It is used especially in Argentina.
It is also the chosen accompaniment for the famous “empanadas”, or dumplings stuffed with meat, typical of those regions, and is also used in salads. It is usually made with chopped herbs and spices mixed with oil and vinegar.
The main ingredients of chimichurri are parsley, olive oil and hot spices. In the course of preparation , preference can be given to other ingredients, and for this reason it is an extremely versatile and customizable sauce.
Although many variations of the original recipe are applied in its preparation, to obtain the traditional flavor it is recommended to keep the proportions suggested. In this way it will adapt perfectly to the dishes it accompanies.
Due to its popularity, there are many industrial versions of the chimichurri, which can be purchased in many markets. The ideal, however, is to prepare it at home with fresh ingredients, and vary the quantities until you get the desired flavor.
In this article we will look at a homemade chimichurri recipe, which preserves the original doses of this absolutely unique sauce. We will also briefly provide you with four other versions.
The origin of the name chimichurri
In the gastronomic environment there are three possible stories about the origin of its name, even if it is not possible to attribute it with certainty to any of the three.
The first story tells that the sauce was created by James McCurry, an Englishman known by the diminutive of “Jimmy”, who put it on the market in the 19th century. It is said that he invented it to make up for the lack of Worcestershire sauce (a typical English sauce).
It seems that non-English speaking people, when they tried to pronounce his name, ended up saying something like “Yimi Churry”.
Another historical variation states that the English who fell prisoner of the Spaniards in the South American colonies in the early nineteenth century insisted that they be given sauce in prison to season food. They did it with expressions such as “give-me-curry” or “che-mi-curry”, which subsequently changed to become “chimichurri”.
Finally, it is said that the sauce may have derived its name from a Basque word that reached America, “Tximitxurri”. The word means “mixture” or “mixture”, and referred to a sauce made with techniques and ingredients that were repeated in all cases.
Homemade recipe of chimichurri sauce, prepared according to the traditional
This recipe preserves the original ingredients and doses of this exquisite sauce, and is meant for about six people. If you want to increase the portions, you can increase the quantities of the ingredients proportionally.
Ingredients
- 3 bay leaves.
- Lemon juice (100 ml).
- ½ teaspoon of salt (2 g)
- 1 cup of olive oil (200 ml).
- ½ cup of wine vinegar (100 ml)
- 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper (2 g)
- 1 teaspoon of dried thyme (5 g)
- 3 finely chopped garlic cloves (15 g)
- 1 large tablespoon of oregano (10 g)
- 5 tablespoons of chopped parsley (40 g)
- 5 tablespoons of finely chopped red onion (20 g)
- 1 teaspoon of sweet paprika powder (5 g)
Preparation
- Crush the oregano, parsley, garlic and shredded bay leaf in a mortar.
- Mix the onion and other spices (thyme, chilli and sweet paprika) in a saucepan.
- Prepare the base of the sauce by emulsifying the vinegar, oil, lemon and salt.
- Add the sauce base to the spice mixture and stir.
- Pour into a glass jar with a lid.
- Leave the sauce to macerate for a couple of days in the least cold part of the freezer.
If placed in the freezer, this sauce can be consumed within three months of opening.
Variations of the original recipe of chimichurri
From this homemade chimichurri recipe it is possible to obtain variations, if you add other ingredients or replace others. For example, if you replace the red onion with a little more garlic, you get a garlic chimichurri.
If you add 200 g of dried tomatoes to the original mixture and wait the time necessary for them to soak, you will have a tomato chimichurri. To obtain a coriander chimichurri, we must replace this herb with parsley while keeping the doses unchanged; the result will be a very aromatic sauce, ideal to accompany many dishes.
Thanks to this homemade chimichurri sauce recipe, which is very easy to make, there will be no reason to buy it in the store. It has the advantage that fresh ingredients give it quality and longer shelf life, without preservatives or chemical additives.
