Eat & Drink
Originally published on Wednesday, 7th October 2009
The Ultimate Caesar Salad
Serves 2 as a main course or 4 as a starter
Ingredients
1 large bunch of romaine lettuce, washed, dried and torn into bite-sized pieces,
100 grams of sliced pancetta or bacon, approx ½ inch thick, cut into one inch pieces.
2 slices of day-old sourdough or other rustic bread, roughly cut into cubes.
75 grams of Parmesan cheese, shaved.
Salad Dressing
2 cloves of garlic
8 anchovies
2 egg yolks
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tbsp mustard
50 mls of olive oil and 100 mls of vegetable oil combined in a jug with pouring spout
juice of half a lemon
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
Place the pancetta or bacon in a medium-sized sauté pan on medium-low heat and fry until crisp. Remove the pancetta with a slotted spoon or spatula and drain on a kitchen towel.
Drain all but a few tablespoons of the fat, and add the bread cubes. Toss them well in the fat from the pancetta and sauté them for 5-10 minutes, stirring frequently until they become very golden and firm. To check them, give one of the bread cubes a squeeze - they must be quite hard or they will easily become soggy when mixed with the dressing. Remove the bread cubes from the heat and set aside.
To make the dressing, place the garlic and anchovies in a mortar and pestle and smash to a paste. Add the egg yolks, vinegar and mustard and using your pestle swirl them around your mortar until the mixture is well blended.
Slowly pour in the oils, continuing to whirl the pestle inside the mortar as you add the oil in a slow, steady trickle. Keep going until all the oil has been incorporated and the dressing is thick and creamy. Stir in the lemon juice and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Place all the salad ingredients except the bread croutons in a large salad bowl and pour over the dressing. Toss vigorously until well combined and add the croutons. Mix again and grate a little extra pepper overtop.
Serve immediately.
Jennifer Klinec from Eat Drink Talk has kindly agreed to provide Urban Junkies readers with mouthwatering recipes and foodtips.
To learn more, classes at Eat Drink Talk are held in Jennifer's beautiful loft in Clerkenwell, packed with information and useful tips, and you'll get to sample all of the delicious dishes prepared during class.
In collaboration with Eat Drink Talk