Mixed-Herb and Preserved Lemon Gremolata
The next time you have spare bits of various herbs needing to be used up, make this gremolata and dress up your meat and fish.
In a perfect world, I would have a thriving, verdant herb garden just outside my kitchen. I would be able to pick just the sprigs and leaves I need to garnish my plates and also to prepare my favorite herb condiments and sauces.
But in reality all I have are an overgrown sage shrub and the odd patches of oregano, remnants of that herb garden that I tried to nurture and grow years ago. Living in a semi-rural area I compete with the backyard creatures for the prize contents of my garden and they get dibs on everything–my succulents, too.
For now I continue to rely on store-bought herbs for my Italian Salsa Verde or my Pistachio and Pine Nut Pesto but from recipes that call for no more than a few sprigs of parsley or mint or dill, I would always be stuck with unused herbs languishing in the vegetable drawer…until I discovered gremolata.
What is Gremolata?
Gremolata is an Italian herb-based condiment that is traditionally served with osso bucco but it is also a popular accompaniment to grilled or roasted meats or fish. You can consider it a cousin to the salsa verde I mention above for the overlap in some ingredients and uses but gremolata is the no-frills relative.
Where salsa verde is made with capers, mustard and anchovies, traditional gremolata is made with only chopped parsley, lemon zest and fresh garlic.
It might be a stretch to call my version gremolata because I take liberties with ingredients but it’s certainly been inspired by the original.
Since there is always more than just parsley in my crisper drawer everything gets thrown in the mix–here it’s parsley, mint and dill. And instead of the zest I use the juice of a fresh lemon and finely chopped bits of preserved lemon to really give the condiment oomph.
If you’ve never had preserved lemons before they’re punchy, bold and bright and just the thing for elevating chopped, mixed herbs. They have other uses, too, as I’ll show in the next post but my gremolata-inspired condiment complements simply-prepared proteins like this sumac-broiled trout we had for dinner recently (pictured below).
Note that not all preserved lemons are made the same–some have bolder flavor than others so start with less and add more as your taste allows. And don’t limit yourself to just parsley either–use your favorites like I do here and you’ll never have to throw away leftover herbs again.
Mixed-Herb and Preserved Lemon Gremolata
Listen to your taste buds when preparing this gremolata and use the amounts below as a starting point. This makes about one cup once the herbs wilt into the liquid.
Ingredients
- 1/2 bunch Italian parsley
- 4 sprigs fresh dill (or scallions or chives)
- 4-5 sprigs fresh mint
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped preserved lemon (See Note)
- 2-3 cloves finely minced or crushed garlic
- 3-4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- Splash olive oil
- pinch kosher salt (optional)
Instructions
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Finely chop the herbs, garlic and preserved lemon. Transfer to a bowl and stir in the lemon juice and splash of olive oil. Add a small pinch of kosher salt if you feel it needs it. The greens will wilt down after a few minutes in the liquid. Serve with your choice of meat or fish.
Recipe Notes
Preserved Lemon: I prefer the Les Moulins Mahjoub Preserved Lemon to others I’ve tried for its smoother flavor. If you’re using another brand, add the smaller amount first and add more according to your preference.
Nothing wrong with inspired gremolata! Unless the Italian culinary police are going to show up. We used to go to a restaurant that served gremolata with warm, freshly baked good. I think the restaurant closed because we ate too much of it.
Love this. All the flavours that work. I also make a preserved lemon butter to put on top of silver beet.