Did you know Caesar salad was created in Mexico? It was created by Cesar Cardini when he ran out of some ingredients. Now for all my shocked Italian friends, worry not! While it was invented in Mexico, Cesar was actually born and raised in Italy.
This has to be one of my favourite salads of all time. Not a big fan of eating salads but a garlicky salad? Sure !
This recipe takes less than 20 minutes to do, including making your own croutons. So please thrash your store-bought dressing!
You need
- half a bread ( whichever you like, I’m using sourdough)
- garlic butter
- 2 egg yolks
- 3 anchovies filet ( make sure to mince them very finely)
- 1/2 lemon juice
- freshly grated parmesan
- salt
- parsley
- 1tbsp dijon mustard or meaux mustard
- ~1/2 cup olive oil*
- (optional) capers
- 2 minced garlic cloves
*If you don’t like the taste of olive oil, you can use a neutral oil instead like avocado or vegetable
Instructions
Note that I’m using a hand blender to do this recipe but one can do it with a whisk and a good wrist.If you do make sure to mince very finely the garlic and anchovies.In a perfect world, you need to make a paste out of it.
- Cut the bread into slices about 1 inch wide, and spread garlic butter on them. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and put them on. Bake at 400 for about 10 minutes or until golden.
- Take them out of the oven and cut them to the size you desire, I like them on the smaller side but that’s just preference. Reserve
- In a bowl combine the egg yolks, garlic, anchovies and mustard. Use a hand blender to combine. Now slowly add the oil in, use the lowest speed on the hand blender else you will end up with a super thick paste. This will create emulsification ( like mayonnaise). Once it’s combined and thickens, add the lemon juice. Give it a little blend.
- Do a taste test and adjust with salt and pepper
- If the consistency is too thick ( if you are not careful with the hand blender and over mix it will happen), add 1 tbsp of water and mix it in. Repeat until you have the right consistency.
- Cut your salad into bite-size, and add your dressing and croutons. It’s now time to add some freshly grated parmesan to this
If you prefer to have all the salad coated, simply toss the salad in a bowl, put some dressing on the side of the bowl and combine with your hands until fully coated. Then, simply serve