Caesar Salad is one of those tasty things that people often only eat out at restaurants as it is notoriously difficult to get right, one slip of the whisk and it’s ruined. Not so with this recipe, it’s so simple and easy to make that all your friends will be coming round to try it.

There’s really only 2 parts to a simple Caesar Salad, however if you want to go all out and poach an egg for each person and add some chicken pieces to the recipe go ahead….I like to do it that way too. For this recipe we’ll stick to the basic elements though.

Make your own Croutons

Ingredients;

• 1–2 large Garlic Cloves
• Pinch of Salt
• 2–3 tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Bruschetta or French Bread Stick cut up in ‘crouton-sized’ pieces

Once you bread is cut up / ripped up into crouton-sized pieces, crush the garlic, and combine all the ingredients into a bowl and mix well. Leave it to sit for a few minutes so that the garlic infused oil soaks into the bread.

Put your oven on to about 180 degrees C, spread the croutons over a baking pan and bake for about 10 minutes or until the croutons are crunchy and golden.

Caesar Salad Dressing

Ingredients;

• 1 teaspoon of Dijon Mustard
• 1 teaspoon of Capers
• 1/3 cup of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 teaspoon of Worcestershire Sauce
• 3 Anchovy fillets
• 1 large Garlic Clove (crushed)
• Juice from half a large Lemon
• 1 large Egg
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Time to put it all together

Bring a pot of water to the boil, place the egg in the water and let it cook for just 45 seconds! This is called ‘coddling’. Once 45 seconds is up, get the egg out and crack it into a mixing bowl or even into a mortar, a mortar and pestle will make everything else easy.

In your bowl, add in the rest of the ingredients, crushing the capers and anchovies into the mixture, this is where the mortar and pestle comes in handy. The only ‘tricky’ bit is to add the Extra Virgin Olive Oil in a slow and steady stream, whisking the whole time. If you don’t there is the risk that you will not emulsify the dressing and end up ‘splitting’ the ingredients.

Once the mixture is well combined it’s time to assemble the salad.

This is how I like my Caesar Salad, you’re obviously free to play around with it. First up I prefer to use a combination of Cos and Romaine Lettuce, some Crispy Bacon, big shavings of Parmesan Cheese, a Poached Egg, then the Croutons and last but certainly not least the Caesar Salad Dressing.

Serve it up in a big bowl with plenty of dressing, it’s a guaranteed winner as an entree or side dish at your next dinner party.

Enjoy!

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