grilled feta with asparagus chimichurri – smitten kitchen

Make the chimichurri: Place garlic, oregano, and crimson chili in a meals processor or excessive pace blender and mix till chopped. Strip the leaves from the parsley and add them to the blender, pulsing the machine till the parsley is well-chopped. Add olive oil, kosher salt, and black pepper and mix till the parsley is finely chopped. Switch to a bowl and stir in vinegar.

In case you’ve obtained time earlier than utilizing it, chimichurri tastes nice after resting at room temperature for half-hour to 2 hours earlier than utilizing. No blender? Finely chop all of the elements by hand, stirring within the oil and vinegar.

Grill the whole lot else: Warmth your grill to a excessive temperature; I like a fast char on the whole lot right here. Organize baguette slices, onion, and asparagus on a big tray (however conserving gadgets separate) and drizzle the whole lot with olive oil and season it with salt and pepper. Pat feta block dry and place in a small cast-iron skillet or a bit of foil folded just a few instances so it’s a bit of sturdier. Drizzle feta with olive oil, too, and head exterior.

My grill is tiny, so I’ve to grill gadgets one by one. Begin with the baguette slices, arranging them in a single layer and flipping them with tongs as quickly as they get licks of colour beneath. Switch bread again to the tray and grill the onion slices, till they’ve brown marks throughout. As quickly as they arrive off the grill, place them in a medium-large bowl with an enormous spoonful of the chimichurri, in order that they mellow and sweeten additional.

Subsequent grill the asparagus, rolling it over as quickly because it will get some char beneath, and repeating on the remaining components. Switch the asparagus again to the tray, and grill the feta final. Place the pan or foil holding the feta straight on the grill and let it warmth for five to 10 minutes. In case you can multitask, use the feta grilling time to chop the asparagus into 1/2-inch segments on an angle and switch it to the bowl with the onions and pour in all however the the final 2 tablespoons chimichurri, stirring to mix. Season with salt and black pepper to style.

Assemble and serve: When the feta could be very sizzling all through and possibly even browned a bit of on the edges, use a spatula to rigorously switch it from the grill to a serving plate. Organize the baguette slices round one half of it, and spoon the asparagus chimichurri across the different half. Spoon some further chimichurri over the feta. Eat immediately, smooshing the feta on the toasts and spooning the asparagus on prime. The feta is the creamiest when it’s nonetheless piping sizzling, however it’ll nonetheless be scrumptious even after it has cooled.

No grill? You can also make every ingredient within the oven — the broiler works nice right here, simply control the bread and feta, as they’ll brown a lot sooner.