Salsa verde – here in a version by Nigel Slater – is an easy, flexible and quick sauce that is delicious with pork, or chicken, or fish, or lamb. Try it when you just don’t feel up to tackling one of the French mother sauces, or when you’re having to come up with something bulletproof at top speed. This is a briny, piquant, colourful sauce, in contrast to the more velvety textures you’ll be used to with the mother sauces. You’ll need a blender.
Assemble some fresh parsley and mint, and strip the leaves, placing them in the blender. Add 3-6 anchovy fillets, 2-3 tablespoons of capers, and a tablespoonful of smooth Dijon mustard. Blend, adding enough olive oil to render a thick mush with some texture remaining in it. Add lemon juice to taste.
Don’t expect this sauce to last – it takes only a minute or two to make in any case, and if you have too much, do what Nigel Slater does with his and use it as a dip later on in the evening.