Aleppo Pesto-Chimichurri
A little bit pesto, a little bit chimichurri, and lots of ways to use it! Check out the Notes section at the bottom for ideas, plus background on ingredients and more.
Makes about 1 cup
Ingredients
My Aleppo Pesto-Chimichurri, calling your name from the Adventure Kitchen. It can’t decide if it’s a pesto or a chimichurri, but you know what it’s quite clear about? How insanely delicious it is.
2 Tablespoons pine nuts
1/2 cup finely minced fresh parsley leaves
1 Tablespoon finely minced fresh sage leaves
1/2 cup olive oil
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon coarse salt (or half this amount if using table salt)
1/4 cup minced shallots
1 Tablespoon Aleppo pepper
1/2 Tablespoon minced garlic (about 3 cloves)
Several grinds of black pepper (or about 1/2 teaspoon)
Instructions
1. Toast the pine nuts in a dry skillet over medium heat, tossing frequently, until they are lightly browned in spots. Remove from heat, let cool, then roughly chop.
2. Toss the herbs together in a medium bowl, then stir in the olive oil, followed by the lemon juice and salt.
Aleppo pepper with all those beautiful fresh herbs and other ingredients for pesto-chimichurri.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients, including the chopped pine nuts. Let the flavors combine for about 15 minutes, then serve.
Notes:
This sauce is super versatile and addictively delicious. Like a chimichurri, you can spread it over grilled or roasted meats or veggies. Like a pesto, you can toss it with pasta, or spoon it all over your pizza. And like both of them, you can dribble it into a sandwich, or spread it over crostini, or dollop it onto your eggs at breakfast.
Culinarily speaking, pesto and chimichurri are basically sisters from another mister: although they’re from different parts of the world, both are made with gobs of minced fresh herbs, pulled together in a flavorful olive oil sauce with other aromatics and seasonings.
In this recipe, the main herb is parsley, as in chimichurri. But then, borrowing from the pesto tradition, I’ve also included pine nuts to give it a bit more creamy heft. I don’t call for whirring the whole thing together in a blender or food processor though, as is common in pesto recipes. Instead, the finished product should be a chunky, dollop-y mixture - like a chimichurri - rather than a smooth sauce.
Aleppo Pesto-Chimichurri over grilled skirt steak in the Adventure Kitchen.
And unlike either tradition, I’ve jazzed this up with Aleppo pepper, which is a mildly spicy chile originally from Syria, with a slight smokiness and lots of addictive flavor. (If you don’t have Aleppo pepper, you could sub Italian red pepper flakes; but you’ll want to use much less than I’ve called for here.)
One of the nice things about this recipe is that parsley and sage are available just about all year round, so this will work equally well at your Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner table as it will at your summer barbecue. You can bring it to a dinner party or a pool party (maybe in a Mason jar!). And if you’re the one hosting, you can make it hours in advance. (Love that!)