Video:Chimichurri Sauce

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Transcript:Chimichurri Sauce

Hello, I'm Michele Manfredi for About.com Food. Today, I'm going to show you how to make chimichurri sauce, a raw, green sauce from Argentina that may become your new favorite condiment.

Chimichurri Ingredients

Chimichurri is a simple garlic and herb sauce. In addition to fresh garlic, I have some fresh cilantro, fresh oregano and fresh flat-leaf parsley. We are also going to use some oil and vinegar, so let's get started.

Peal Garlic and Ready Parsley

We're going to peel and slice 4 to 5 cloves of garlic, and set that aside. Next step is our Italian parsley, just hold your blade at a 45-degree angle and shave the leaves right off the stems. Italian parsley stems are very tender and flavorful, so all we need to do is discard this part. If you want to go through and pick out some of the larger stems you can, but don't spend too much time on that because it really doesn't matter.

Add Ingredients to Blender

Alright, the rest of this easy recipe happens in the blender. I'm going to pour in a 1/2 cup of olive oil, I'm going to toss in the sliced garlic, I'm going to add 3 tablespoons of white wine vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/4 teaspoon of ground cumin, 1/4 teaspoon of red chili flakes, and 1/4 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper. I have 1/2 cup of packed cilantro leaves, and a 1/4-cup of packed oregano leaves, along with our bunch of Italian parsley. And you want to make sure you have a long spatula for this next step.

Pulse and Scrape

We're going to pulse the mixture on and off in a blender and each time we do, we're going to take the lid off and scrape the herbs down and give it a good mix before we pulse on and off again. This takes a little bit of patience, but don't be tempted to add more liquid, just keep pulsing and scraping and pulsing and scraping until your mixture comes together. So it's going to take you a couple of minutes, but eventually you're going to get a nice puree like this. And this is what you're looking for; the texture will be similar to a pesto.

Transfer to Bowl

At this point we're going to transfer it into a bowl and you're ready to serve. Of course you're going to taste for salt and pepper, and some people like to add a little extra vinegar for sharper flavor, but you taste it, and adjust it to your liking.

Use With Fish, Meat or Poultry

Personally, I love this over grilled seafood, but it is fantastic with any kind of meat or poultry. You'll also want to give this a try as a sandwich spread or even as a dip for vegetables. Like I said, this could become your new favorite condiment! This is best eaten fresh, but it will keep in the frig for a couple of days. I really hope you give this uniquely flavored recipe a try, enjoy.

Thanks for watching, for more information, visit us on the Web at About.com.