Caesar Salad with Crouton Collars
- Level: Intermediate
- Yield: 4 servings
-
- Nutritional Analysis
- Per Serving
- Serving Size
- 1 of 4 servings
- Calories
- 732
- Total Fat
- 50
- Saturated Fat
- 9
- Carbohydrates
- 55
- Dietary Fiber
- 10
- Sugar
- 9
- Protein
- 21
- Cholesterol
- 51
- Sodium
- 1009
- Total: 40 min
- Prep: 20 min
- Cook: 20 min
Ingredients
Crouton Collars:
1 (4-inch thick) sourdough or French baguette, cut into 2-inch thick slices
1/2 cup olive oil
Caesar Salad:
1 egg yolk, coddled
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 anchovies (or 1 teaspoon anchovy paste)
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard (the real stuff, not the dried stuff)
1 1/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup safflower oil, or olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
2 large heads romaine lettuce, outer leaves discarded, remaining inner leaves washed and thoroughly dried
4 crouton collars
1/2 cup freshly grated imported Italian Parmigiano-Reggiano
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Using your fingers, pluck the doughy section of bread away from the crust leaving a 1/4-inch thick collar of crust. Place the crusty collars in a large bowl and drizzle with olive oil. Toss and squish the bread like a sponge until the oil is evenly absorbed.
- Place the oil-soaked crusty collars on a baking sheet, standing up so that the hot air can circulate through the "O", and bake for approximately 20 minutes, or until collars are crispy and golden brown.
- Place the egg, in its shell, in boiling water for 40 seconds. Remove, run under cold water for 15 seconds to stop the cooking process, then use as directed.
- To make caesar salad dressing, add salt and pepper to the salad bowl (this creates a sandpaper-like base that will make the next steps easier). Using the back of a soup spoon, grind the garlic against the wall of the bowl until it becomes a paste. Then add the anchovies, and once again use the back of the spoon to grind it into a paste. Follow the same procedure, adding the Dijon, egg yolk, lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce, 1 at a time. Make sure that each ingredient is blended into a smooth paste with the previous ingredients before proceeding.
- Add the oil and vinegar. Blend well.
- To serve, stand lettuce leaves upright in crouton collars. Drizzle 2 tablespoons of dressing overtop each serving, then sprinkle liberally with Parmigiano-Reggiano.
- Note: If you don't have a rough wooden salad bowl, the dressing can be made (with some sacrifice) in a blender. Add the salt, pepper, garlic, anchovies, Dijon, lemon juice, Worcestershire and vinegar. Puree. Then add the oil and pulse a few times. Add the yolk and pulse a couple more times—just enough to blend it without causing the dressing to turn mayonnaisey.