Rosie Makes Gremolata.

Rosie is making gremolata today.
 What is gremolata, you ask?
Gremolata is a chopped herb condiment
 typically made with parsley, garlic, and lemon zest
and traditionally served with osso bucco.
 I'm stuffing tomatoes with it for a little appetizer.

Here's my mise en place:

1/4 cup parsley
2 TB basil
 zest of 1 lemon
1 tsp red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 garlic clove
 1/4 cup toasted almonds
 1 TB fresh rosemary
3-4 TB olive oil (ELBOO - That's extra light Bertolli olive oil!)

I grated my zest.

Minced my basil ...

... and my parsley.

I added the zest and minced herbs to my mini processor
 and put in minced garlic, ...
 (The reason I mince, chop, and zest things ahead of time,
even though they're all going into the processor anyway,
 is that I get a much better consistency and texture when I do it myself.
Processors are nice, but they can't do everything.
 Had I put everything into the processor to begin with,
 some things would be over-processed
 and other things would be under-processed
. You want a nice amalgamation.)

... a little red wine vinegar (Maxine's home made stash.), ...

... salt and red pepper , ...

... and toasted almonds.

Strip off the rosemary from the stem ...

... and add that to the mix.

Pour olive oil in while processing until you get the right consistency.

Like this.

Here are my little tomato appetizers.

The brightness and freshness of the gremolata
 is wonderful with the just-picked tomatoes.
 You've got a lot of flavors working together
 here to create a lovely fusion.

This is summer at its best.
 Stay tuned for another fresh herb delight - chimichurri sauce.