Classic Caesar Salad with Brown Bread Croutons and a Creamy Home Made Dressing

I simply couldn’t do a salad series without including a classic Caesar salad, which for me is THE ultimate salad, and one I would choose to have every day given half the chance. The creamy dressing mixed with the crisp romaine lettuce leaves is simply perfect which is why I’ve noted that the chicken and anchovies are optional – it’s a great meal with or without them. There is no mention of chips in this recipe but my serving suggestion for any great Caesar salad would always be that it is served with a portion of chips on the side. That’s probably what I order most in a restaurant and what a perfectly balanced meal it is.

This is the only recipe in this series where we are making our own creamy dressing. It really is worth the extra bit of effort especially when you consider that there isn’t too much heavy lifting involved in this recipe, especially if you decide to use shop-bought croutons which I am also very fond of for extra crunch.

Anchovies aren’t everyone’s favourite, myself included, but they add a salty richness to the dressing that isn’t fishy at all so please don’t be afraid of trying it. Most good Caesar dressings have anchovies in so if you want to get that authentic flavour then you need to use them too. To use up the rest of the tin of anchovies, a pasta puttanesca is another great dish for people who think they don’t like anchovies i.e me.

Skill: easy

Serves: 2-3

Time 25 minutes

INGREDIENTS

For the dressing:

60g mayonnaise

60g sour cream

1 anchovy fillet

2 small cloves of garlic, pressed or finely grated

2 tsp olive oil

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 tbsp lemon juice

60g finely grated fresh parmesan

For the croutons:

4 small slices of brown bread- sourdough or artisanal crusts are perfect

1 Tbsp olive oil

Plenty of sea salt and black pepper

For the salad:

1 head Romaine lettuce, chopped

100g shredded roast chicken (optional)

Anchovy fillets (again, totally optional depending on your preference)]

40g parmesan, thinly sliced (To get the super-thin slices of parmesan use a potato peeler to simply peel off slices!)

METHOD

1. Start by preheating your oven to 180fan. Cut the bread into bite-sized chunks and drizzle with olive oil then season generously with salt and pepper and give them a good mix to ensure they’re evenly coated – I think using your hands is best for this. Pop them in the oven for about 5 minutes until they’re crunchy on the outside.

2. To make the dressing, add all of the ingredients to a small bowl or a blender, and blitz together until smooth. Ensure the anchovy is fully incorporated and not hiding!

3. The salad should be assembled just before serving so the leaves stay crisp. In a large bowl add all of the salad ingredients (holding back half the parmesan) and drizzle over the dressing and toss generously so it’s evenly coated. Then add in the croutons and toss again.

4. Serve in a large bowl and scatter over the remaining parmesan cheese.

5. Enjoy!

 If you like this recipe, why not check out the rest of my salads here.