This Caesar Salad is delightfully crunchy and spicy. This pungent concoction was created during a period when I was experimenting with very bold flavors. I often serve it with pasta, which seems to bring the entire meal to a new level. The combination of finely minced garlic and citrus will pop out of your salad bowl. Some have even told me they find it too spicy.
The star of this dish is garlic. If you don’t like the strong presence of garlic, you will not like this dish. When mincing the garlic, the finer the chop, the stronger the garlic taste. The key to this dish is freshness. You need to use super fresh and crunchy romaine lettuce. You must use fresh, real parmesan cheese grated by hand.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup top of tier extra virgin olive oil
- 8 large garlic cloves minced extra fine
- 8 anchovy filets (optional)
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon dry mustard
- 2 tablespoons of lemon juice (fresh)
- 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon coarse ground salt
- 2 egg yolks from large eggs (room temperature)
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 box of croutons
Instructions:
The key to this dish is to manually chop the eight garlic cloves into a very fine mince. Combine the minced garlic, anchovy filets, Worcestershire sauce, dried mustard, lemon juice, fresh ground black pepper, salt, the yolks from two large eggs, and the freshly grated parmesan cheese in a food processor.
Turn on the food processor until all the ingredients are well combined. Then, start adding the extra virgin olive oil slowly. You’re looking to emulsify the oil and ingredient mixture.
Prepare the Caesar dressing as close to mealtime as possible and refrigerate. Otherwise, the ingredients may begin to separate. You can and should prepare the romaine lettuce ahead of time. Depending on the size of your heads of lettuce, rinse, dry, and tear 2-3 heads of romaine lettuce into bite-size pieces and discard the stems. Place the lettuce in the refrigerator at least 30 minutes before serving. The colder this salad is served, the better.
When you are ready to serve, toss the prepared lettuce leaves with the Caesar dressing and croutons in a large bowl. I usually dispense with the kitchen utensils and use my gloved hands to ensure all the lettuce gets an even coating of garlicky goodness. After plating, grate some fresh parmesan cheese over the salad and top with an extra anchovy filet (optional). Enjoy.