Georgian Cilantro Sauce
- Total Time
- 1 hour 10 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 2ounces dried apricots
- 1cup boiling water
- ⅓cup shelled walnuts (1 ounce)
- 2 to 4garlic cloves (to taste), halved, green shoots removed
- ¼cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
- ½teaspoon salt (more to taste)
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste
- Pinch of cayenne
- 2cups cilantro leaves (2 good-size bunches), coarsely chopped
- 1½cups parsley leaves (1½ bunches), coarsely chopped
- ½cup coarsely chopped mixed basil, tarragon, and dill
- 5tablespoons walnut oil (or more, to taste)
- ½cup soaking water from the apricots, as needed
Nutritional analysis per serving (3 servings)
365 calories; 30 grams fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 6 grams monounsaturated fat; 19 grams polyunsaturated fat; 25 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams dietary fiber; 14 grams sugars; 6 grams protein; 421 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Place the dried apricots in a bowl and pour on the boiling water. Let sit for at least an hour, more if possible, even overnight. Drain over a measuring cup and retain ½ cup of the soaking water.
- Step 2
Turn on a food processor fitted with the steel blade, and drop in the garlic. When it is chopped and adhering to the sides of the bowl, stop the machine and scrape down the bowl. Add the walnuts, and process with the garlic. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the drained apricots, the lemon juice, salt, pepper and cayenne to the bowl, and process to a puree. Add the cilantro and other chopped herbs, and puree, stopping the machine to scrape down the sides several times. Combine the walnut oil and soaking water from the apricots, and with the machine running, gradually add it to the puree. Process until smooth. Transfer to a bowl, and let sit for one hour. Taste and adjust salt. Serve with beans, chicken, meat or fish, grilled or roasted vegetables, or grains.
- Advance preparation: This sauce will keep for several days in the refrigerator. Bring to room temperature before using.Martha Rose Shulman can be reached at martha-rose-shulman.com.
Private Notes
Comments
Really delicious, versatile as sauce with roasted veggies or fish, dip with crudite, pasta salad dressing, tossed with rice or potatoes & as crostini spread. Holds well in fridge. NOTES: 1) California apricots are best here, not Turkish. 2) 2 cloves garlic is plenty. 3) BIG pinch for cayenne. 4) Olive oil works in place of walnut oil & reduce oil to 4T. 5) Prefer a bit more cilantro & bit less parsley. 6) Tarragon only in place of mixed herbs works & reduce to 3T.
We loved this sauce so much, and found it so versatile, that we made a dozen jars and gave them away as Xmas presents. Everyone loved it. We put it on salmon, chicken, eggs, even straight on toast with breakfast.
I make a thicker version and use it as a condiment. I add a package of baby spinach to food processor first. Also I use 2 Tbs of peanut oil rather than 5 Tbs of walnut oil and dried tarragon/basil/dill.
Delicious! Subbed dates instead of apricots and didn’t soak them because they were already so soft. Also didn’t have walnut oil so I used EVOO. So fresh and interesting, love it!!
I added cilantro, basil and tarragon to the walnuts, cayenne, lemon and apricots, tasted and loved the flavor. Thought the parsley was a negative and won’t add this in the future. I did throw in some mint which helped to restore the very fresh taste I created prior to the addition of parsley
This belongs in the pantheon of NYT recipes. So darn good on anything. Ingredients are flexible. Add mayo and you’ve got a creamy dressing. A !