The traditional green sauce recipe is one of the great sauces in our kitchen, especially if we talk about fish, as can happen with hake in green sauce. In fact, it is common for these preparations to be known as ‘Basque style’, although both names often coexist.
Perfect to accompany any fish or shellfish, as also happens with cod in green sauce or with another of the icons of Basque cuisine such as monkfish in green sauce, this preparation does not involve the complexity of a pilpil, but its result is downright good.
However, if we want give even more ‘stick’ to the green sauce, we can take a look at a trick that the 12 Michelin stars Martin Berasategui proposed in the program Robin Food of the EITB, when he punctually accompanied the television George’s David in your recipes.
In this case, the star of the recipe was monkfish, a fish that lends itself well to this type of casserole, and where we can also bet on a green sauce even if we did not have parsley. This ingredient, fresh and finely chopped, is usually the most common way to dress this preparation, which can also be thickened with peas or asparagus.
However, Berasategui is committed to a much more intense form of dye our sauce green naturally and it is nothing other than resorting to spinach. He does not throw them raw nor does he use them at the base of the casserole or in the sauce, but prepares them separately.
To do this, the chef from San Sebastian first blanchs a handful of fresh spinach. It is only necessary to blanch them lightly in boiling water for a few seconds and then take them to a bowl with cold water and ice, to fix the color and that the intense green of these leaves remains.
After that, drain the spinach well by squeezing it and letting them rest for a few minutes. With them already blanched and tempered, he prepares the rest of the monkfish casserole, which is finished off at the end with this very powerful green sauce that he makes by grinding the spinach in a blender glass at maximum power, a good jet of olive oil and a pinch of water if we see that the result is too thick.
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Once everything is crushed and emulsified, pour the mixture over the casserole and it turns several times, so that it integrates well, and thus achieves a very powerful and visual color for this recipe that, if we did not have parsley, we could perfectly make at home.
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