Sluttishly Simple: Chimichurri

Chimichurri is an Argentinian sauce, most commonly served with steak (the Argentinians know what goes well with steak - so when they say chimichurri, we listen. Intently).

It's a parsley-based sauce (if you're not keen on parsley, try it with coriander - you'll end up with mojo verde, a Canarian sauce). You can fiddle about with the quantities - if you love garlic, add more; if you want HEAT, throw in extra chilli. Tweak as you go and put your own spin on it.

Chimichurri doesn't just go brilliantly with steak, of course - try it with chicken, fish, and veggies. It's fabulous drizzled over a chilli, too.

Not only is this delicious, it's incredibly easy and quick to make - mere minutes, possibly even seconds. Let's go.

Chimichurri (makes 250ml)
You will need:

• 2 large handfuls of flat-leaf parsley, as few stalks as possible
• 10 garlic cloves, peeled
• 1 small shallot, peeled and quartered
• 150ml olive oil
• 3 tbsp red wine vinegar
• Juice, zest and pulp of ½ an unwaxed lemon
• ½ tsp chilli flakes
• ½ tsp dried oregano
• ½ tsp cayenne pepper
• Salt and pepper to taste

Make it!

1. In a food processor, chop the parsley, garlic, and shallot (if you don't have a food processor or hand blender, just finely chop these ingredients).
2. Transfer to a bowl and add everything else - that's the olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon, chilli, oregano, cayenne, salt and pepper. Stir well (don't blend or whizz in the food processor now, though - we don't want this to be baby-food smooth, just sauce-like).
3. Taste, and add more of anything you, um, want more of. 
4. Use your chimichurri as a sauce or marinade - it'll last for about a week in an airtight jar in the fridge.
5. Watch this, because let's face it, you've been humming it since the beginning of the recipe. 

Chim-chim-chimichurriiiiiiiii...