Salsa Verde

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon basil coarsely chopped
• 2 small pickled cucumbers / gherkins 
• 0.5 cup flat parsley coarsely chopped
• 2  garlic clove coarsely chopped
• 1  hardboiled eggs 
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar fresh
• 0.5 cup olive oil extra virgin extra-virgin
• 12 servings pepper black freshly ground
• 6 ounces walnuts shelled

Equipment

• food processor
• frying pan
• oven
• kitchen towels

Directions

1. First toast the walnuts. Set the oven at 350 degrees.
2. Spread the walnuts in a single layer on a sheet pan. When the oven is hot, transfer the pan to the oven and toast the walnuts for 5 to 10 minutes, being careful not to burn the nuts.
3. Remove from the oven and toss the walnuts in a clean dry kitchen towel, rubbing the nuts to release as much of their bitter tannic skins as you can. (The skins won't disappear entirely, and you don't want them to do so because a little of that bitter tannin is good in the sauce.)
4. Transfer the nuts to a food processor.
5. Add the parsley, basil, garlic, and cornichons. Turn the machine on and add the egg yolk. Continue processing, adding the olive oil in a slow stream, until the sauce is very smooth.
6. Add the vinegar and process to mix well. Taste for seasoning, adding salt, pepper, and more vinegar if necessary.
7. Nancy Harmon Jenkins is a food writer with a passionate interest in Mediterranean cultures and cuisines, sustainable agriculture, and farm-to-market connections. Author of half a dozen highly acclaimed cookbooks, she writes for the New York Times, Saveur, and Food & Wine, and divides her time between her farmhouse outside of Cortona, Italy, and the coast of Maine.