This fantastic recipe from Bon Appetit is a winner. Sauce Vierge is a French sauce literally meaning virgin sauce because it is not cooked. There are so many variations, often using tomatoes as the base of the sauce. The main ingredients found in most of the recipes are olive oil, fresh herbs and lemon juice. This recipe includes luscious avocado, the juice and pulp of a lime, and jalapeño pepper. Brilliant!
The original recipe calls for 1/2 cup olive oil and a half of an avocado. I switched it around a bit and used a whole avocado and 1/4 cup of olive oil. I don’t care for sauces or dressings that are heavy on the oil so this worked out perfectly.
The article suggests serving this sauce with grilled fish, roast chicken, or huevos rancheros. We served it with a roast chicken and dipped tortilla chips in the leftover sauce the following day. It was so good, I made more right away.
Avocado – Lime Sauce Vierge
Makes about 1 1/2 cups
Adapted from Bon Appetit
Ingredients
1 medium avocado, pitted, diced
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 small jalapeño, seeded, finely chopped
1 small garlic clove, finely chopped
1 teaspoon finely chopped shallot
1 – 2 limes, halved (our limes from the garden are large and juicy so I used just 1 lime, taste as you go)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon coarsely chopped fresh cilantro leaves
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preparation
Dice avocado and place in a medium bowl. Coarsely crush some of the avocado. Stir in olive oil, jalapeño, garlic, and shallot. Squeeze limes into avocado mixture. Using a spoon, scrape pulp out of limes into mixture. Stir to combine. Do Ahead: Sauce can be made a few days in advance. Press a piece of plastic wrap directly on surface of sauce. Cover and refrigerate. Bring sauce to room temperature before continuing.
Stir basil and cilantro into sauce just before serving. Season with salt and pepper. Drizzle with extra olive oil if desired.