Aji Verde

Serves: —

sauce vegetarian

Ingredients

  • 113 g mayonnaise
  • 2 cups lightly packed fresh cilantro, mostly leaves with small stems
  • 2 medium jalapeños, seeds and membranes removed and reserved, roughly chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
  • 28 g grated Cotija or Parmesan cheese
  • 1 tbsp lime juice
  • 0.25 tsp fine sea salt

Instructions

  1. In a food processor or blender, combine all of the ingredients.
  2. Blend until the cilantro has broken into very tiny pieces and the sauce is green and mostly smooth. It will still have some texture.
  3. Taste and adjust if necessary.
  4. If the flavor is too overwhelming, blend in 1 tablespoon olive oil while running the food processor.
  5. If the sauce is not spicy enough, add some of the reserved jalapeño seeds and blend again.
  6. If it needs more zip, add another tablespoon of lime juice and/or a pinch of salt.

Notes

Aji verde keeps well covered in the refrigerator for about 1 week.

To make it dairy-free, omit the Parmesan. To temper the flavor, drizzle in 1-2 tablespoons olive oil while running the food processor.

To make it vegan, replace the mayonnaise with an equal amount of vegan sour cream and omit the cheese.