Italian Green Sauce (Bagnèt Verd)

An open jar of Italian green sauce (bagnèt vert) with wooden spoon, knives and crackers.

5 from 9 votes

Italian Green Sauce (Bagnèt Verd)

If you haven't heard of bagnèt verd (salsa verde), listen up. It's an easy-to-make Italian green sauce prepared with parsley and stale bread. The flavours are piquant, salty, fresh and rich with umami notes. This recipe is a vegetarian version and contains neither anchovies nor eggs.

Prep Time5

Cook Time0

Soaking Time10

Total Time15

Course: Dips, Spreads & Sauces

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: bread, leftovers, parsley, pesto, sauce, spread, vinegar

Servings: people

Calories: 101kcal

Author: Choclette @ Tin and Thyme

Equipment

mini food processor (affiliate link)

Ingredients

50 g stale bread (preferably sourdough)
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar (I used 1 tbsp cider vinegar and 1 tbsp sour pickle juice)
50-80 g fresh parsley soft stalks are fine, but remove any tough ones
1 tbsp capers
1 clove garlic
1 tsp white miso paste
1 green chilli optional
50 ml extra virgin olive oil

Instructions

Soak the bread in the vinegar in a covered container for at least ten minutes. If your bread is really hard, you'll probably need to soak it for longer.
50 g stale bread, 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
Place all of the ingredients, except the olive oil, but including the bread and any leftover vinegar into the bowl of a mini food processor. If using the chilli, remove the seeds or not, depending on how much heat you like.
50-80 g fresh parsley, 1 tbsp capers, 1 clove garlic, 1 tsp white miso paste, 1 green chilli
Pulse until everything is well combined but only roughly blended.
Add half of the olive oil and pulse again, then finish up with the remaining oil and pulse once more. I like a bit of texture with this Italian green sauce, but continue to blend if you prefer a smoother paste.
50 ml extra virgin olive oil
If not using straight away, transfer to sterilised glass jars. Top with a little olive oil to seal and it keep in the fridge for up to a fortnight.

Notes

I like a bit of texture to this Italian green sauce, but of you prefer a smoother paste you might want to use a blender instead.

How much pesto per serving will depend on the purpose you're using it for. As a sauce for pasta, this amount works for six people. For canapés it will go an awful lot further.

For pasta sauce, just add some of the pasta cooking water to the bagnèt verd before mixing it into the pasta. If you want a looser sauce for other things blend in little more olive oil.

You’ll find additional tips and info about this recipe in the main body of the post.

Please note: calories and other nutritional information are per serving. They’re approximate and will depend on serving size and exact ingredients used. Please refer to my nutrition disclaimer for further information.

Nutrition