For all the vibrant herbal flavor of Green Goddess, but without the heaviness of the mayonnaise and sour cream, Green Goddess Pesto Sauce is the answer to your pasta saucy, sandwich spready dreams. Shall we?
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Green Goddess sauce is one of the "mother sauces" in The Delicious Life. This version has all the trappings of the original green goddess, with neither the mayonnaise nor the sour cream. By itself, this Green Goddess sauce is essentially a pesto, and can be used as a sauce "starter" for sandwich spreads, pasta sauce, dips, and salad dressings.
What Exactly is Green Goddess?
What You Need for Green Goddess Sauce
Green goddess sauce is basically a $#it ton of green herbs, umami-boosted with garlic and anchovy. The original Green Goddess has an herb profile that includes chervil and tarragon. Chervil is not as easily accessible as some other herbs. Honestly, I don't know anyone who even knows what chervil tastes like (except me). Chervil is a smaller, frillier cousin of parsley, so most current recipes for Green Goddess, including mine, have a foundation of Italian flat leaf parsley. Tarragon is the other original herb, and has a subtle black licorice flavor that I love, but others might find a little unfamiliar. It's also not as common to find in a regular grocery store, so I've left it out, adding basil and kale to add some flavor depth.
That all being said, this is what you need for Green Goddess sauce:
- Garlic
- Anchovies
- Shallots
- Flat leaf parsley
- Basil
- Kale
- Chives
- Lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper, i.e. "the yoozh"
How to Make Green Goddess Sauce
Ingredients Notes and Resources
- I use whatever jar anchovies at the grocery store aren't too cheap nor too expensive because it doesn't seem to matter unless you are eating straight anchovies with a pair of chopsticks from the jar (I've never done that. Maybe.) However, Serious Eats did a taste test, and they found Ortiz anchovies to the best.
- any and all produce, organic, from local farmers' markets or Whole Foods Market
How to Use Green Goddess Sauce
Spread the pesto as is on sandwiches — Green Goddess Bagel! Green Goddess Grilled Cheese! Toss the pesto with hot pasta and grains for super green grain bowls. Stir the sauce into thick yogurt for a dip, thin it out with extra olive oil and lemon juice to use as a vinaigrette for salad.
Green Goddess Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 clove garlic
- 1-2 anchovies drained of oil (this is optional)
- ½ small shallot chopped, about 1 tablespoon
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- ½ cup fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley, chopped flat-leaf parsley, chopped
- ½ cup green kale chopped
- ¼ cup basil leaves chopped
- 2 tablespoons chopped chives
- ¼ to ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt or to taste
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper or to taste
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Pulse garlic, anchovy if you're using, and shallot in food processor until chopped. With the food processor running, add lemon juice, parsley, kale, basil, and chives. The herbs won't process very well without much liquid yet, don't worry. Patience.
- Very slowly drizzle in ¼ cup olive oil until kale and herbs get sufficiently chopped
- Every once in a while, turn off the food processor and push herbs down the side of the bowl with a spatula. You may need more or less of the olive oil depending on how well you packed chopped herbs into your measuring cups. Continue until everything is the consistency of a pesto.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper. You probably won't need too much salt if you used 2 anchovies, though this is a pesto, so it's better if it's salty.
- Store pesto in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for about a week.
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