Italian-style salsa verde is a punchy, briny herb sauce that pairs well with just about any protein you throw at it. And like most herb-based sauces such as pesto or chimichurri, you can be a bit fast and loose with measurements and ingredients. This fact makes salsa verde a great component of a 5:30 Challenge meal.
At its most basic, a salsa verde needs a green herb, a briny ingredient, an acid, garlic and olive oil. Parsley is the classic base (and what is called for in this recipe), but you can also add other fresh greenery, such as oregano and/or thyme, if its hanging around in your crisper drawer. For the briny component, choose anchovies or capers; either one brings salty umami. When it comes to an acidic ingredient, I lean toward using lemon over vinegar; its citric flavor is brighter and lighter, and adding the zest with the juice brings another flavor dimension to the sauce.
A food processor makes light work of assembly. Start with the garlic and anchovies, pulsing them to a fine chop. Add the parsley, pulse to chop, then run the processor to incorporate lemon juice and olive oil.
The salsa verde easily comes together while you sear bone-in pork chops. These cook quickly in a hot, oiled skillet — no tricks or complicated technique needed.
Pan-Seared Pork Chops with Salsa Verde
- 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
- 4 bone-in, 1/2-inch-thick pork chops
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
- 1 large garlic clove, peeled
- 4 anchovies or 1 tablespoon drained capers, finely chopped
- 1 bunch parsley, leaves and tender stems roughly chopped
- Zest and juice of 1 lemon
- Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Pat the pork chops dry and season both sides of each pork chop with 1/4 teaspoon salt. When the oil is shimmering, add the pork chops to the skillet and cook until browned and the meat near the bone registers 145 degrees, 3 to 5 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate and let rest for 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, combine the garlic and anchovies or capers in a food processor. Pulse until finely chopped, about 5 pulses. Reserve a few parsley leaves for garnish and add the remaining parsley to the processor. Pulse until chopped, about 5 pulses. Turn the processor on and add the lemon juice and zest, followed by the remaining 6 tablespoons of olive oil through the feed tube. Continue to process until the sauce is emulsified, 5 to 10 more seconds. Season to taste with salt.
- Serve the sauce with the pork, garnished with reserved parsley leaves.
Serves 4.
Per serving: 517 calories (percent of calories from fat, 68), 39 grams protein, 3 grams carbohydrates, trace total sugars, 1 gram fiber, 39 grams total fat (8 grams saturated), 97 milligrams cholesterol, 513 milligrams sodium.
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