Salsa Verde

"Green sauce" doesn't sound appealing, but when I say it the way they do in Tuscany, salsa verde, ah...now that sounds good. (Isn't it amazing how when a dish has a foreign name, it sounds delicious, complicated and fancy?) So let's stick with the Italian so that we can impress as many people as possible.

Salsa verde is a condiment very similar to pesto in appearance and use but is based on parsley instead of basil and has capers and anchovies instead of pine nuts and parmesan.

There are at least as many different salsa verde recipes as there are cooks in Tuscany, so you don't need to worry about following exact instructions. (If you're uncomfortable cooking without a recipe, just have a glass of wine, pretend that you're in your villa overlooking a vineyard and let yourself wing it.)

Start with at least one bunch of parsley, rinse it well, pick off all the leaves and spin them dry in a salad spinner. Place the leaves in a food processor with an anchovy or two, about a tablespoon of capers (drained) and one or two cloves of garlic (depending on their size and your taste buds). Pulse until it forms a rough paste and then drizzle in the olive oil to your taste. You will use about half as much olive oil as parsley. You can also add one or more of the following: lemon juice or red-wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, pine nuts or walnuts, a hard-boiled egg or a slice of bread.

The key is to get the texture right (it should have the consistency and appearance of basil pesto) and to taste it and adjust the seasonings to your liking. The sauce should be assertive and salty. It is used sparingly, as a condiment, so you want it to be packed with flavor.

There are just as many uses for salsa verde as there are recipes for it. You can mix a dollop with lemon juice and olive oil to make a lovely vinaigrette. Stir it into egg or potato salad. Use as a spread on sandwiches (I especially like it with grilled vegetables and mozzarella, or tomato and hard-boiled egg). Serve as a condiment over almost anything grilled—but especially radicchio, romaine lettuce, fish, lamb or chicken. Use it to make a cold pasta or couscous salad with diced tomatoes, peppers and walnuts. Serve it with plain boiled vegetables such as potatoes, green beans or cauliflower. Stir some salsa verde into plain yogurt to make a vegetable dipping sauce.

However you use it, I'm confident that you're going to love it.