Regular – This is your classic chimichurri recipe, you can make this way ahead of time and let it marinate for a flavor boost.  I do like to add a little fresh finely chopped parsley right before serving to brighten it up.

This makes 1 cup which is a solid amount for a dinner party of 6 or fewer adults.

• ¼ cup red wine vinegar
• 2 cloves of garlic minced or pressed ( don’t go too crazy with the garlic it will over power the flavor of the sauce).
• ½ of a shallot finely chopped
• ½-3/4 of a cup of finely chopped parsley (the more parsley you use the thicker this becomes).
• 1 small Fresno chili diced (test this for heat before dumping it al in, you want flavor not heat from the chili).
• ½ cup of very good olive oil.
• A table spoon of fresh (or dried) oregano.

Steps from here are pretty simple. If I am using dried oregano in the chimichurri I combine that and the oil fist and let it sit for 5 minutes or so. From there I ad in all the other prepped ingredients except the vinegar.  Stir everything to get it evenly distributed through the oil and then season with salt and pepper.  Now start adding the vinegar a little at a time until it has the brightness of flavor you desire.

“Rustic Chimichurri”

Not much changes here when I switch to “rustic mode” for this chimichurri recipe the chopping gets a little less fine, I sub white onion for the shallot, and add considerably more fresh ground pepper as well as some red chili flake.  The rough chop leaves everything chunkier and lends itself to really fatty cuts of steak.  It also takes about half as long to make.

• ¼ cup red wine vinegar
• 2 cloves of garlic minced or pressed ( don’t go too crazy with the garlic it will over power the flavor of the sauce).
• ½ of a shallot finely chopped
• 3/4 of a cup of finely chopped parsley (the more parsley you use the thicker this becomes).
• 1 small Fresno chili diced.
• A pinch of red chili flake.
• ½ cup of good olive oil.

The extra parsley, lighter chopping and extra spice give this a surprisingly different flavor profile than the traditional approach above.  It also cuts the time needed in half.. I never really make this ahead – its usually when I realize a need a sauce that I crank this version out.

Quick Parsley Sauce:

Another quick to crank out simpler version of the sauces above.  I pair the ingredients way back and like our sugar snap pea recipe usually wind up making this while a steak is resting.

• 3 tables spoons red wine vinegar
• ¼ cup olive oil.
• ½ cup parsley.

This is a bail out I often use when I have overdone a piece of meat, keep it in your back pocket for the same reason.

So there you have it 3 different riffs on a chimichurri recipe from the Chief Food Officers Kitchen.