Chimichurri rice is a must, the everyday kind, when you have a little leftovers or decide to take the tupperware the next day to work. It is a big triple B: good, pretty and cheap , it will never win the award for the most original or elaborate but, we are very sure of that, it will solve more than one unforeseen problem.
Chimichurri, well known in our country, is a sauce made from a series of essential elements: parsley, oregano, garlic, chili plus, in some cases, mustard, thyme and/or bay leaf, all of them then emulsified with vinegar and oil. Its origin, also well known, is Uruguayan and Argentine, the parentage and etymology that each one sticks with the one they like the most, in our case the Uruguayan and the give-me-curry of the English in the Río de la Silver.
Ingredients for two people:
– between 160 and 200g of rice, it combines very well with both basmati as with jasmine
– 1 finely chopped onion
– 1 carrot, diced very, very small
– 1/2 red pepper also diced
– 20g fresh peas
– a handful of mushrooms cut into quarters
– 2 loin fillets, cut into pieces of about 3cm
– 2 tablespoons chimichurri
– 1 small spoonful of vinegar and extra virgin olive oil
– 1/2 tablespoon of water
First of all, we will cut the loin into pieces that are not too large and in a bowl we will add the mixture of spices, vinegar, oil and water, we will emulsify well with a spoon until the mixture thickens and we cover the meat with said paste. We will leave it for at least an hour in the refrigerator to macerate.
We boil the rice, meanwhile, in another frying pan, preferably a large one since the rice will go later, we will sauté the onion along with the carrot, once browned we add the marinated loin and stir well, we leave for about five minutes until the meat will be ready.
We continue to watch the rice with one eye, and when we have the meat ready, add the pepper, peas and mushrooms and continue stirring. We lower the heat a little (medium heat, not too high) while it cooks for another five minutes.
More or less the rice will be ready, so we will take it off the heat, drain it well and add it to the pan where the loin and the rest of the ingredients are, add a little salt, stir and, if necessary, rectify adding a little more chimichurri, salt or black pepper.
