Welcome to Fresh Kitchen 2020. something about that number sounds great doesn’t it – I love new beginnings and a new decade seems like a great chance to set some audacious intentions. At the very least I hope to continue to attempt to live my best life and aim to put a positive spin on everyday.
I love it when there is time and energy for creating and eating good food, and even more so when I can be sharing it with family and friends old and new. This Salsa is the perfect way to start any evening – simply served with fresh bread it is amazing, and if you are feeling a little more industrious or your bread is a day old then char grill it and continue to spooning the salsa on to your crostini or dipping in to it.
As usual though with any great condiment it doesn’t stop with one use, use it as …
- As a great dip with fresh bread or char grilled sliced crusty bread crostini.
- As part of an anti pasta platter with some juicy olives to balance all that cheesy goodness.
- Spread on a ciabatta or a long sliced french loaf and grilled for a cheesy take on garlic bread.
- Spooned over your favourite caesar or hearty salad with a splash of good vinegar as well….
- With tomatoes and basil.
- Spooned over hot grilled corn.
- Tossed through vegetables and roasted……
At the moment Parmesan Salsa feels like a taste of summer but I am sure it would be equally welcome on a cold winter night – packed with so much umami goodness it is going to win with me any day. It is as always simple to make and slightly flexible in the ingredients used – I have called it parmesan salsa but it would be equally good with Pecorino cheese or any other hard cheese you have such as aged gouda…
I have used the food processor to make this but I am sure you could make it by finely grating the cheese and garlic and then vigorously shaking it all together in a jar.
PARMESAN SALSA
Ingredients
- Approximately 250grams of hard cheese
- 1 cup of olive oil
- 1 tablespoon of fresh chopped herbs such as origanum or thyme (or 1 teaspoon of dried herb)
- 1/2 tsp dried or fresh chilli to taste
- 2 or three cloves garlic!!! very important !
- Optional zest of 1/2 a lemon
Start by chopping your parmesan cheese into smallish pieces then put them in the processor and chop until they are bread crumb size pieces.
Add garlic and chop again.
Add olive oil herbs and lemon zest and process briefly to combine.
Thats it.
Pour it into a jar or bowl and leave for several hours for the flavours to combine. You can now use it straight away or refrigerate until you are ready to eat – it will need to come to room temperature if refrigerated as the oil will harden.
Enjoy
