Caesar Salad

This is the salad I order most often when I eat out. Really, the most important part is the dressing, which is incredibly aromatic and one of a kind. The whole salad consists of just lettuce, croutons, Parmesan and, well, the dressing. To make it a little more filling, you can add pieces of roasted or grilled chicken.

I hope this recipe will make my sister and my godson happy. They love this salad, or rather the dressing. Maybe they'll like this one too and won't go looking for the store-bought kind anymore?

I made this salad with green oak leaf lettuce (the wavy kind ;)). You can also use romaine. I shaved the Parmesan into flakes with a vegetable peeler, but you can also grate it finely. If you want the salad to look more impressive or to serve it as an appetizer, you can make bigger croutons from halved baguette slices.

The dressing with two sardines seemed a bit salty to us, but it mellowed once it was tossed with the lettuce.

Caesar salad

My own recipe.

Directions:

Bring water to a boil in a small saucepan, gently lower in the whole egg and cook for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes, but no longer, so the yolk doesn't set. Take it out and separate the white from the yolk. You won't need the white.

Rinse the sardines well to get rid of the salt and pat them dry.

Peel 1 clove of garlic and cut it in half. Cut the ciabatta into cubes. Heat a skillet with 2 tbsp olive oil, add the garlic and the ciabatta cubes. Fry the croutons, stirring from time to time so they don't burn but just turn golden.

In the bowl of a stand mixer or blender, combine the egg yolk, sardines, the remaining garlic, wine vinegar, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce and mustard, and blend thoroughly (you can use a fork). Then add the olive oil very slowly, in a thin stream, until you get a creamy dressing. Season to taste.

Wash the lettuce, dry it and tear it into large pieces. Put it in a bowl, pour the dressing over it, and sprinkle with the croutons and Parmesan. Serve.

Enjoy!