Caesar Salad

A freshly made caesar salad is well worth the trouble. Use quality ingredients and it will impress!

View Instructions

Servings:

12 cups – 6 servings as a side

Ready In:

30 minutes with croutons

Calories:

Sorry, this is the full fat version

Good For:

Perfect for entertaining

 

About this Recipe

By: Sharyn

This is not the heavy, gloopy, boiled egg, bacon, and anchovy laden, caesar salad you might be use to. The dressing is a lighter garlicky lemon flavour, and the combination of crunchy romaine lettuce, quality cheese, and home made croutons is delicious. I also like to serve with crispy walnuts.

If you are looking for snacks to serve with drinks, make the croutons and walnuts by themselves, they make fabulous munchies.

 

 

Ingredients

For the croutons

  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 2 garlic cloves, halved lengthways
  • 1 loaf of french, italian, or sourdough bread – enough to make 3 cups of 2 cm bread cubes. 
  • salt & pepper to taste

For the dressing

  • 2 to 4 garlic cloves peeled
  • 1 egg boiled for 30 seconds
  • 1 tbsp plus 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
  • 1 scant tsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

For the salad

  • 4 heads romaine lettuce or 8 heads baby romaine lettuce
  • Parmigiano-Reggiano curls
  • Crumbled bacon (if using)

Optional Crispy Walnuts

  • 2 cups walnut halves
  • 3/4 cup icing sugar
  • vegetable oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or to taste)

This is one of those dishes that you can prepare earlier and then throw together just before serving. It’s your choice as to whether you pre-make your croutons or not, but I like to serve an extra bowl, warm from the oven, for guests to nibble.

You can make the dressing earlier, but not too long – you don’t want to lose the bright, fresh flavour. If you don’t have fresh Parmigiano, then substitute with a bold hard cheese and curl it fresh. 

The raw egg puts some people off – there is a very slight risk of contracting salmonella from raw egg. However, this is a lemon based dressing which should make it safer. The pH of lemon juice ranges from 2 to 3 and a pH of less than 4.2 is suppose to kill Salmonella. But if you’re not sure, don’t take my word for it, buy pasteurised eggs from the supermarket, keep them cold, and use before expiry.

Too bacon, or not too bacon?  It’s not really required for taste but why not!  (Unless you’re Jewish). The salad already has a lot of flavour, and between the Parmigiana-Reggiano and the croutons the salt quotient is covered. However, if you can’t bear the thought of caesar without bacon, then go ahead. Cook the bacon slowly so that it gets very crisp, and then crumble it. Toss it in with the other ingredients at the end and serve. The bacon lovers will thank you!

Oh, last comment… the cheese. This is where you spend the big bucks. You don’t need a lot of cheese but you do need good cheese. If you can’t find Parmigiano-Reggiano, then you can use Grana Padano, which is cheaper, and milder; Asiago, which is sharp but buttery, and Pecorino-Romano, which has a more pungent flavour. Or, if you prefer, swap the Parmigiano out entirely for a good blue, such as a Roquefort. Whatever you do, don’t use pre-grated parmesan, this stinky abomination bears no resemblance in flavour to the real thing, and will ruin your salad. 

Step by Step Instructions

Step 1

Croutons

  • Heat the oven to 180°C conventional.
  • Warm the olive oil with the garlic halves in a medium sized saucepan over moderate-low heat. Remove from heat and stand for 10 minutes. Discard the garlic.
  • While waiting for the oil to infuse, cut the bread loaf into 1 to 2cm cubes – whatever size you like your croutons to be.
  • Toss the bread cubes into the saucepan with the oil. Mixing constantly to cover all the bread cubes.
  • Spread bread onto baking sheet, in a single layer.
  • Bake croutons for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown.
Optional

Optional Crispy Walnuts

  • In a saucepan simmer the walnut halves in water to cover for 5 minutes, or until they are slightly softened.
  • Drain the walnuts, and transfer to paper towel to dry completely.
  • In a bowl combine the icing sugar, salt, and cayenne
  • Toss the walnuts through the sugar mixture.
  • Pour about 5 cm of oil into a heavy kettle or saucepan, and heat until hot enough to fry.
  • Fry walnuts in batches for 1 to 2 minutes, or until they are brown and crisp.
  • Transfer with a slotted spoon to a baking sheet and season again with salt and cayenne if necessary.
Step 2

Dressing

  • Mince the garlic to form a paste. Use your discretion as to how much garlic to use. The soft neck variety (white bulb) has a stronger taste and is more pungent than the hardback variety (purple), which has a milder taste and odor. 
  • Whisk together the garlic paste, egg, lemon juice, and Worcestershire sauce in a small bowl or a blender. If not sure about how much garlic to use, add gradually to the other ingredients, adjusting to taste, before adding oil.
  • Add the olive oil in a stream, whisking continuously until the dressing is emulsified.
  • Store the dressing in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
Step 3

Salad

  • You will need about 12 cups of loosely packed, pale green inner leaves of the romaine lettuce.
  • Wash the leaves, spin dry, and cut into bite-size pieces. Or if you prefer, serve baby leaves whole to scoop up the dressing.
  • In a large bowl, toss the romaine with the croutons, optional crispy walnuts, bacon crumble (if using), and the dressing until the salad is combined. 
  • Peel Parmigiano-Reggiano curls with a vegetable peeler over the salad.  Add to taste.
Serve!