Erica De Mane

Herb Garden, by Eva Maria Ott Heidmann.

Recipes below: Anchovy Rosemary Salsa Verde; Caper Thyme Salsa Verde; Sweet Marjoram Salsa verde

I’m all alone in my herb garden. No one wants to weed with me. No one is as taken with herbs as I am. That’s okay. I like working by myself, rubbing against sage, lemon verbena, and Thai basil, releasing their perfumes into the air. For me that is one of the best ways to spend part of a day. Everything is at midsummer’s peak right now, big, fluffy, full of wet worms, frogs with brown squares on their backs, yellow-and-black garter snakes, bees. Lots of critters are hanging around my little garden. I guess I’m not alone after all.

With everything so lush, it’s definitely time to make salsa. I’m talking about Italian salsa verde, the herb and olive oil sauce, which can contain other things like anchovies, capers, almonds, and lemon zest. It’s a summer sauce that takes five minutes to throw together but gives back a hundred times. It demands our complete respect, so give it your best olive oil and you’ll be rewarded for a ridiculously small amount of effort.

Everyone gets excited by salsa verde. People say, “Wow, she’s made a sauce, and just for a barbecue.” Yes, it’s a simple but formal looking sauce that’s greenly elegant and tastes fresh. You can put it on your hot dog instead of relish. Its basic format, chopped fresh herbs suspended in olive oil, can go in many directions

I’ve made salsa verde with just about every herb I grow or can buy. Mint salsa verde is fantastic on grilled lamb or eggplant, though I didn’t include a recipe here. I always like highlighting a single herb, like fennel, for instance, but a mix can be fascinating, too. Say you blend tarragon, chervil, and parsley, adding a little scallion and lemon. Now you’ve got something delicate to use on poached fish. I think my favorite salsa verdes for this season, so far at least, have been ones with a lot of marjoram. I’ve grown to love that herb so much that it has almost replaced basil as the best herb in my world. You could use fresh oregano instead, for a more potent version. And have you ever tried making a salsa verde with nasturtium leaves? It tastes like a caper sauce.

To present these sauces in all their vibrancy, I make them right before serving, in the amounts I think I’ll need, no leftovers. You can use a food processor, but I find it more pleasurable and frankly easier to chop everything by hand. It looks prettier, too. I just rock through the herbs with a classic 8-inch chef’s knife.

I’ve made about a cup of each of these sauces, to serve four or five as a condimento for meat, fish, or vegetables. They’re also great on bruschetta.

Anchovy Rosemary Salsa Verde

This mix of anchovy and rosemary is just wonderful. I used this on a grilled rib eye. What a treat that was. And try it on grilled leg of lamb.

4 anchovy fillets
1 fresh summer garlic clove, peeled
2 branches of fresh rosemary, the leaves stemmed
A small handful of flat-leaf parsley leaves
½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil, or a little more
Black pepper
Salt, if needed

Chop the anchovy and the garlic finely (or, alternatively, mash them together with a mortar and pestle). Chop the rosemary and parsley. Combine it all in a small bowl. Add the mustard and the rice wine vinegar, mixing them in. Add the olive oil, season with pepper, and give it a stir. Let sit for about 15 minutes before serving. Taste for salt. Add a little more olive oil if it all seems too dense.

Caper Thyme Salsa Verde

I’ve used variations on this herb-and-caper salsa on grilled tuna and calamari and drizzled over roasted sweet peppers.

A palmful of salt-packed capers, soaked, rinsed, and drained
The green part of 2 scallions
Half a jalapeño pepper
4 branches of thyme, the leaves stemmed
A handful of flat-leaf parsley leaves
A squeeze of fresh lemon juice
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt

Finely chop the capers, scallion, and jalapeño together. Chop the thyme and parsley. Combine in a small bowl, and add the lemon juice and olive oil. Season with salt, and give it all a good mix. Let sit for about 15 minutes before using.

Sweet Marjoram Salsa Verde

There’s nothing better on grilled vegetables, especially tomatoes, than this marjoram sauce.

A palmful of pine nuts, lightly toasted
1 fresh summer garlic clove, peeled
12 big sprigs of marjoram, the leaves stemmed
The grated zest from 1 small lemon
A drizzle of honey
½ cup of extra-virgin olive oil
Salt
Black pepper

Chop the pine nuts along with the garlic. Put them in a small bowl. Chop the marjoram, and add it, along with the lemon zest, honey, and olive oil. Season with salt and black pepper, and give it all a good stir. Let sit for about 15 minutes before serving.