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Caesar salad - The King of salads. Rich creamy dressing full of umami flavour and fresh crisp lettuce.
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5 from 2 votes

Caesar Salad - The King of Salads

Still to this day my favourite salad. A rich, creamy dressing made with fresh egg yolks and loaded with umami flavour from the anchovies, sharp parmigiano cheese and fresh garlic. Finished with loads of cracked black pepper and fresh lemon. It's the king for good reason.
Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Servings 4 people
Calories 753kcal
Cost $15/ 8€

Equipment

Ingredients

  • 2 heads romaine lettuce small
  • 100 g bacon
  • 60 g parmigiano reggiano cheese grated
  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • ice water

For the dressing

  • 2 egg yolks large and as fresh as possible
  • 75 ml olive oil
  • 75 ml peanut oil or any other neutral oil
  • 1 clove garlic small clove or ½ large clove, grated
  • 2 pieces anchovies
  • 1 tsp mustard dijon or english mustard
  • ½ tsp soy sauce
  • 4 dashes tabasco
  • 1 tbsp parmigiano reggiano cheese grated
  • 1 tsp lemon juice
  • 1 ice cube
  • ½ tsp sea salt
  • lots fresh cracked black pepper

Croutons

  • 2 slices bread use your favourite bread, stale is better
  • ⅛ tsp garlic powder
  • ⅛ tsp onion powder
  • ⅛ tsp celery salt
  • ⅛ tsp oregano dried

Instructions

  • Cut and wash the lettuce. Remove the core, dark ends of the lettuce and slice into bite size pieces. Soak the cut lettuce in ice water and place in the fridge for at least 10 minutes.
    Soaking the lettuce in ice water.
  • Cook the bacon in the pan slowly with the tsp of olive oil until crisp. Drain on paper towels and save the pan with the bacon fat.
    Cooking the bacon in a cast iron pan.
  • Cut the bread into tiny squares and cook on low heat in the bacon fat.
    Cooking the croutons for the caesar salad in a cast iron pan.
  • Once the croutons are nicely browned and toasted, add all the spices and toss around. Season with a little sprinkle of salt. Dry on paper towel.
  • Add the egg yolk, mustard, grated garlic, anchovies, tabasco, soy sauce, black pepper and the ice cube to the food processor. Blend on low speed while adding the oil slowly at the same time. The sauce should be thick like mayonnaise. Finish with fresh lemon juice and the grated cheese. Taste for seasoning.
    Making the caesar salad dressing in a food processor.
  • Dry in a salad spinner. Cut the crispy bacon into small pieces. Assemble the dressing, grated cheese, croutons and bacon and lettuce.
    Mixing the caesar salad in a bowl.
  • Add two big spoons of dressing to the lettuce with the rest of the ingredients. Mix with a spoon. Add more dressing if you like but the most important step is that everything is properly mixed.
    Dressing the caesar salad in a bowl.
  • Plate in a chilled bowl and finish with extra cheese and fresh cracked black pepper. Enjoy on its own or with a nice steak.
    The finished caesar salad with a knife and fork on the side.

Notes

*Soaking the lettuce in ice water helps to crisp up the lettuce and is important you don't skip this step.
*Be careful when cooking the croutons in the pan as they burn easily. Use a low heat and keep moving them around in the pan.
*Don't add the oil too quickly or it will split and you will have to start over. If that happens you have two options.
Option 1 is to save the split sauce, wash out the container and add two new egg yolks to the food processor. Slowly add the split sauce into the new fresh eggs until it's emulsified.
Option 2 is to add a very small amount of xanthan gum (about 1/16 tsp) to the split mixture and blend until emulsified. 

Nutrition

Calories: 753kcal | Carbohydrates: 19g | Protein: 13g | Fat: 72g | Saturated Fat: 19g | Cholesterol: 133mg | Sodium: 532mg | Potassium: 822mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 27509IU | Vitamin C: 13mg | Calcium: 327mg | Iron: 4mg
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