Picture of Proper Chicken Caesar Salad Recipe Photo: Proper Chicken Caesar Salad Recipe
Rated 5 stars out of 5
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Total Time:
1 hr 50 min
Prep
45 min
Cook
1 hr 5 min
Yield:
4 to 6 servings
Level:
Easy
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Directions

With my own versions of the classics, like Caesar salad, it's not about changing things entirely; it's about respecting the original while bigging up the flavors and textures where I can. My twists for this salad are to use chicken legs (not dry old breasts!), smoky pancetta and lovely rustic croutons to suck up all the juices. It's a lovely little salad with just a hint of attitude - and it's versatile, as you can serve it hot or cold.

P.S. Use your imagination - if you have any other unusual salad leaves, flowers or herb shoots lying around, chuck some in to make it look a little less predictable.

Ingredients

  • 4 whole free-range or organic chicken legs, skin on
  • 1 loaf ciabatta bread (about 9 ounces), torn into thumb-sized pieces
  • 3 sprigs fresh rosemary, leaves picked and roughly chopped
  • Olive oil
  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 12 thin slices pancetta or bacon
  • 1/4 clove peeled garlic
  • 4 anchovy fillets in olive oil, drained
  • 3 ounces freshly grated Parmesan, plus a few shavings to serve
  • 1 heaped tablespoon creme fraiche
  • 1 lemon, juiced
  • Extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 or 3 heads romaine lettuce, outer leaves discarded

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Place the chicken legs in a snug-fitting roasting pan with the pieces of torn-up bread. Sprinkle with the chopped rosemary, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Mix with your hands to make sure everything is well coated, then lift the chicken legs up to the top, so they sit above the bread. This way, the bread will soak up all the lovely juices from the chicken, giving you the best croutons! Pop the pan into the preheated oven.

After 45 minutes the chicken should be nicely cooked. Take the pan out of the oven, drape the pancetta or bacon over the chicken and croutons, and put back for another 15 to 20 minutes for everything to crisp up. The chicken legs are ready when you can pinch the meat off the bone easily. When they're cooked, remove the pan from the oven and set it aside for the chicken to cool down slightly.

Pound the garlic and anchovy fillets in a pestle and mortar or a Flavor Shaker until you have a pulp. Scrape into a bowl and whisk in the Parmesan, creme fraiche, lemon juice and 3 times as much extra-virgin olive oil as lemon juice. Season dressing, to taste, with salt and pepper.

Pull the chicken meat off the leg bones - you can use 2 forks to do this, or your hands if you're tough like me - and tear it up roughly with the croutons and the bacon. Wash, spin dry and separate the lettuce leaves, tear them up and toss with the chicken, croutons, bacon and creamy, cheesy dressing. Scatter with some Parmesan shavings.

"Our agreement with the producers of "Jamie at Home" only permit us to make 2 recipes per episode available online. Food Network regrets the inconvenience to our viewers and foodnetwork.com users"

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Newest Ratings and Reviews

Read all 32 reviews

  • on May 13, 2013

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    My first attempt for caesar salad, and boy did it taste good! I did not add bacon. I substituted creme fraiche with greek yoghurt. I also substitute anchovies fillet with plain ol' dried anchovies and rosemary with thyme since these are all I have. But it didn't compromise the taste! I just love the dressing; creamy, tangy, cheesy. So flavourful! Will keep making this salad in the future!

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  • on February 12, 2013

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    Loved it! Will be keeping the dressing recipe for good. For the croutons I bought the Alexia rosemary Ciabatta dinner rolls and cut them in squares. At the very end I took the bacon and chicken out and drained the fat. I tossed the croutons and cooked for addl time to get them crispy. I figure I spent $30 for all the ingredients, made three huge salads and enough to make three more. That's $5. a plate... Oh and the cheese, I used the largest grating side and had like cheese curls for the top. Very tasty!

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  • on November 14, 2012

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    Awesome recipe!!! The crouton were full of flavor and adding the bacon was a nice touch. Also loved that the dressing didn't have raw egg. Jamie did a great job. Wish he'd do more episodes of Jamie at Home. Love his garden too.

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