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Caesar Salad II

Source of Recipe

From "See You On Sunday" by Sam Sifton


Recipe Introduction

"They killed Caesar with a chicken breast. They grilled a fist of it dry and cut and fanned out its slices over romaine slicked in watery dressing and served it for dinner, and that was when this once-mighty American salad fell lifeless to the dining room floor. Caesar salad topped with salmon. With chickpeas. With steak. You can make a Caesar salad that way if you want to, and make it the entirety of your Sunday meal, but really it's better as a starter or side dish, a classic old-school salad of the sort that you might see prepared tableside in an old-school steak house. As at that steak house, the most important thing about the salad is its dressing: anchovy-salty, really quite thick, so it cloaks the lettuce fully. Attend to that well."

List of Ingredients

â—¦ 4 to 6 salted anchovy fillets, rinsed, dried, and minced, or to taste, plus more for serving
â—¦ 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
â—¦ 1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
â—¦ â…“ cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more Parmesan for serving
â—¦ 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
â—¦ 1 egg yolk or 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
â—¦ 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
â—¦ Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
â—¦ â…” cup plus 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
â—¦ 2 cups 1-inch cubes Italian bread
â—¦ 2 heads romaine lettuce, roughly cut, well rinsed and dried


Recipe

Heat the oven to 350° F. In a food processor, combine the anchovies, lemon juice, garlic, cheese, mustard, egg yolk, Worcestershire, and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Slowly drizzle â…” cup of the oil into the mixture as the processor works, emulsifying the dressing. (You may not need all the oil.) When the dressing has achieved the consistency of a loose mayonnaise, remove it from the food processor and set aside.

Arrange the pieces of bread on a baking sheet and drizzle with the remaining 3 tablespoons oil. Place in the oven until the croutons begin to turn golden, about 10 minutes, then remove and set aside.

In a large bowl, toss the lettuce and the croutons with just enough dressing to cover the romaine as a sauce would pasta. Place in a serving bowl and grate Parmesan over the top. Add extra anchovies to taste.