Caesar salad with lemon, fried capers and anchovies
A good Caesar salad is a beautiful thing. The trick is to balance salt, acid and fat. Once you have the dressing down, the riffs are endless. Fried capers are one of my favourite ways to elevate a simple dish. For a milder dressing, use vegetable, rapeseed or grapeseed oil.
Salads can be the most layered and flavourful of dishes. I start with a strong base – crunchy vegetables or leaves – then add a soft element, such as mozzarella or boiled egg. Next, I add fresh herbs for a bright bite and, lastly, the perfect dressing, which marries acid with fat. I always finish with flaked sea salt and a grind of black pepper. These recipes are good enough to be their own meal. Use them as a guide and change or add anything as your heart desires. With five good dressings in your back pocket, there is very little you cannot achieve in the kitchen.
What you'll need
Yield
Serves 6
Ingredients
For the dressing
For the fried capers
For the croutons
For the salad
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 160°C/fan oven 140°C/mark 3. Mix the anchovies and garlic with a pinch of salt in a mortar with a pestle, until it forms a smooth paste. Add the lemon juice and the Dijon mustard, and mix to combine.
Step 2
Place the egg yolk in a medium mixing bowl, then slowly whisk in the anchovy mixture until combined. With a steady hand, slowly pour in the oil, drop by drop, while whisking quickly with the other hand. You want to emulsify the lemon and oil to make a nice thick dressing. Season to taste with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, and set aside.
Step 3
To fry the capers, heat the olive oil in a small saucepan on a medium-high heat. Once it starts to form small bubbles, add the capers and cook for 2 minutes. They should blossom and be slightly brown. Transfer to a plate lined with a paper towel and set aside to cool.
Step 4
For the croutons, place the bread on a foil-lined baking sheet and drizzle with the olive oil. Season with salt and black pepper, and bake in the oven for 5-7 minutes, until golden brown and crisp, but not burnt. Set aside to cool.
Step 5
Place the chopped lettuce in a serving bowl. Add half the dressing and toss until the leaves are coated. (You can add more based on your preference.) Mix in the capers, parmesan and lemon zest. Then add the croutons and the anchovies. Season with freshly ground black pepper and sea salt.
