How to make green sauce: the recipe of Piedmontese cuisine

Green sauce is a quick and easy recipe, perfect for those who love Piedmontese cuisine and want to flavor tasty recipes.

Today we are preparing the green sauce, a delicious sauce that is very simple to make and also very versatile . The Piedmontese green bagnetto, also known as bagnet verd , is a tasty mix of ingredients featuring garlic and parsley but also capers and anchovies, an explosive combination capable of enhancing many dishes!

What can green sauce be used for ? With meats, cheeses but also boiled or grilled vegetables. But more simply you can also enjoy it with croutons, so as to enhance all its aromas and flavors . Let's go to the kitchen and get to work immediately to make this fabulous parsley sauce.

How to make green sauce: grandma's recipe

1. First of all, let's start with the eggs. Place a saucepan with water on the heat and when it has reached the boil, dip the eggs and cook them for 8 minutes , until they are hard-boiled. Once ready, let them cool, then peel them and mash the egg yolks , placing them in a bowl.
2. Take the bread, cut out the crumbs and leave it to soak in the wine vinegar . Ten minutes will be enough!
3. Now chop the parsley and garlic , first removing the internal core. Desalt the capers and chop them together with the anchovies .
4. It's time to combine all the ingredients: egg yolks, squeezed breadcrumbs, parsley, garlic, anchovies and capers, all together with a pinch of salt and pepper and extra virgin olive oil . Mix everything well until the consistency is that of a sauce and then let it rest. Your delicious Piedmontese sauce is ready.

Among the most famous variations is the one that involves the addition of pickled gherkins , peppers or chilli peppers instead of capers. According to others, the yolk is not essential but for us it helps to make the sauce creamier so we always include it.

The bath can also be prepared with the mixer as seen in this video . You will obtain a smoother and more homogeneous consistency.

We recommend you try the green sauce with Piedmontese boiled meat , green anchovies or fresh tomini .

Conservation

The green bath will keep in the refrigerator for a week. It will be sufficient to cover the surface with a thin layer of oil. Alternatively, you can freeze it , already portioned.

Origin and history of bagnet verd

The first written trace of green sauce is found in Pellegrino Artusi's Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well . He writes: “ to make the green sauce, chop everything together with the lunette, capers squeezed out of the vinegar, an anchovy, a little onion and very little garlic. Squeeze the mixture with the blade of a knife to make it fine and place it in the basil, and melt everything with fine oil and lemon juice. This sauce goes well with cold boiled chicken or fish, and with hard-boiled or poached eggs. If capers are missing, peppers can be used ."

The first difference that catches the eye is the green part. He used basil instead of parsley and contemplated the possibility of adding peppers. The "modern" recipe that we know today dates back to a later period and was invented in the 19th century at the court of Carlo Alberto . The monarch used to enjoy it, a bit like us today, paired with meat. Piedmontese green sauce also known as bagnet today is a traditional agri-food product of the region.

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