Salsa verde, or as the French call it sauce verte, sounds very fancy. It is. But in a good way – fancy on the tongue, easy on the prep. Because salsa verde or sauce vert simply means a green sauce. Recipes differ wildly, but they all have one thing in common – loads of fresh herbs. To give backbone to the herby freshness you’ll find the likes of garlic, capers, anchovy and chilli in salsa verde.
I add salty green olives to this salsa verde, and spoon generous dollops of it on braaied rosemary-marinated Karoo lamb chops. It’s a Mediterranean inspired dish with its feet firmly in Africa.
All you need is…
FOR THE LAMB
8 Karoo lamb chops
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
1 clove garlic, finely sliced
extra virgin olive oil
FOR THE SALSA VERDE
¾ cup flat-leaf parsley, leaves only
12 pitted green olives
6 tbs extra virgin olive oil
3 tbs fresh lemon juice
2 tbs small non pareils capers (Woolworths stocks it)
large pinch of freshly ground black pepper
large pinch of sea salt flakes (I adore Maldon)
1 clove garlic, unpeeled but crushed open
Place the chops in a flat dish, scatter over the rosemary leaves and garlic. Drizzle generously with olive oil, cover and place in the fridge to marinate for at least an hour.
To make the salsa verde, finely chop the parsley and the green olives. Mix with the rest of the ingredients, cover and allow it to infuse for at least an hour, preferably two. Remove the garlic clove just before you use the salsa verde.
Braai the lamb chops over hot coals until done to your liking or fry them in a hot griddle pan. Serve the chops warm, drizzled with loads of the salsa verde. As the salsa hits the cooked meat it releases lipsmacking aromas! I love baby potatoes simply boiled in their skins with this. That and a glass of good red of course.
serves
4
prep
10 min
stand
60 min
tips, tricks and trivia
More ideas for this recipe
1) Add a few finely chopped anchovies to the salsa verde
2) Add a finely chopped green chilli – remove the seeds so it’s not too hot
3) Add some basil
4) Take it into the pesto space by adding some chopped hazelnuts
5) Serve the salsa verde with chargrilled chicken breast instead of lamb
6) Drizzle the salsa verde over blanched fine French green beans
enjoy with
My choice to pair with my Karoo lamb chops is Van Loveren’s Christina van Loveren Shiraz.
Van Loveren Family Vineyards, the renowned winery in the Robertson Wine Valley, recently revitalised its flagship Christina range of family reserve wines with a gorgeous new bottle design. Named after the family matriarch who arrived at the Cape of Good Hope in 1699, these are limited release wines made of hand-picked fruit.
All the wines in the range are made from single block vineyards and released in numbered bottles. The vinification of Christina wines takes place in a boutique cellar within the greater Van Loveren winery, allowing the winemakers to focus their attention on small components of exquisite quality.
The Christina Shiraz is a real food wine. Full bodied and oak-matured, it has pepper on the nose along with berry notes and a touch of perfume and spice. Available from the estate at R124 per bottle, it drinks well now, but has the potential to develop further with maturation.
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