Dish of the Week: Gremolata (The Simple Condiment Missing From Your Kitchen)

Brooke Viggiano March 21, 2016 7:00AM

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From classic comfort foods to regional standouts and desserts, we'll be sharing a new recipe with you each week. Find other dishes of the week here.

This week, we’re sharing a recipe for a condiment that we’re sure you’ve come across in your dining experiences but that we’re not so sure you’ve ever tried to replicate at home. (Hint: You should because it couldn’t be easier.)

Gremolata is an Italian condiment that, in its most basic form, is made using chopped parsley, garlic and lemon zest. Olive oil can be added to make it more of a sauce (similar to chimichurri), and ingredients like toasted pine nuts, Pecorino cheese, red pepper flakes or anchovy can be used for an extra punch of flavor. Different herbs or citruses can be added or subbed in. Lime, orange, grapefruit, cilantro, mint and sage are all wonderful and worthy components.

Not only is gremolata almost too easy not to make, it's also incredibly versatile. Mix it with olive oil and lemon juice to make a simple dressing; use it as a bright topping to cut through rich dishes like osso buco; sprinkle it over roasted vegetables and fish; blend it with toasted breadcrumbs to add bite to a pasta dish; or rub it on chicken and steak with a bit of oil before grilling.

This recipe, from The Kitchn, is gremolata in its simplest form, but feel free to jazz it up as you please.

GREMOLATA

Ingredients yields 1/3 cup
1 small bunch parsley (about 1 cup loosely packed)
1 clove garlic, skin removed
2 organic lemons, washed and dried

Directions
Remove the leaves from the parsley — enough to make one cup when very loosely packed. Chop the parsley until it is nearly finely chopped. It should be less than one-half cup.

Using a Microplane or fine-toothed grater, grate the garlic clove over the parsley.

Using the same grater (don't bother to wash it), grate just the zest from the two lemons on top of the garlic. Bonus: Doing the garlic and lemon in this order will help to rid the Microplane of garlic odors.

Continue to chop the parsley, mixing in the garlic and lemon as you go, until the parsley is chopped very fine.

Use the gremolata right away, or store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one day.