Gremolata

So simple, and yet so flavorful. This is one of those things where the whole is so much greater than the parts. Do not try doing this in a food processor. It will simply be a mess. From this basic recipe there are many other directions you can go. Use Meyer lemon and or orange zest. Add lime to it and use cilantro. Try mint with the parsley, or marjoram. By the way, curly parsley does not work well for gremolata, so stick to flat leaf. Add shallot and capers and you have salsa verde, another classic condiment. Although gremolata recipes do not call for any oil, I find a little olive oil is helpful in carrying the flavors and helping the gremolata to spread and smear more easily when it comes to topping things. Use gremolata on meats, mixed into vegetables or soups, or smeared inside sandwiches.

INGREDIENTS:

METHOD:

Ensure you have removed the pith from the zest, and chop very finely.

Put the garlic on a cutting board on top of the zest. Cover the garlic and zest with the parsley.

Using your sharpest thin-bladed knife, mince the parsley very fine, turning over and regrouping the parsley and chopping, until the mélange is finely chopped, aromatic, and well mixed.

Transfer to a small bowl or jar. If you wish, stir in a little olive oil until you have a nice bright green slurry. Store in the refrigerator until ready to use. If you use oil, let come to room temperature before using.

Chef’s Notes: * For zesting, you have several options; you can use a zester, which is an inexpensive but handy tool designed to do this, you can use a peeler, and then use a thin knife to remove any of the white pith from the inside of the skin, or you can use a fine hole Microplane© for the zesting. You could even use it for grating the garlic as it will do a fabulous job on that. Whatever you use, just try to avoid having any quantity of the very bitter pith in the dish.

Yield: Around 1/3^rd cup

Source: Chef Andrew E Cohen, and several hundred years of Italian mothers