Caesar salad recipe

Last one, I swear! But this was so good I had to share it. The other week I made a caesar salad with lettuce from my garden (woo hoo). The salad was okay but the pre-made caesar dressing from the supermarket was entirely less than satisfactory. Actually... it was a bit horrible. But it's okay - we have the interwebz! I found this recipe and it was delicious AND easy. The only change I made was to replace the anchovies with a tablespoon or so (I didn't measure; I just poured) of Worcestershire sauce. This is actually kind of pointless since Worcestershire sauce, used in 'traditional' caesar dressing to give a slight anchovy/salty flavour, usually doesn't contain anchovies these days. I knew this and used it anyway. There's probably some sort of irony there. Oh yeah, and I didn't use a sourdough baguette, I used a couple of slices of white bread from my freezer.

Ingredients (serves 6)

200g sourdough baguette, cut into 1cm cubes
Olive oil cooking spray
6 rashers rindless bacon, chopped
1 large cos lettuce
50g parmesan cheese, shaved

Dressing
2 egg yolks
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 large garlic clove, chopped
4 anchovies, chopped
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
3/4 cup olive oil

Method

Dressing: Place egg yolks, mustard, garlic, anchovy and vinegar in a food processor and process until smooth. With the motor running, slowly add oil until dressing thickens. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Preheat oven to 200°C. Arrange bread on a large, flat baking tray. Spray with oil and season with salt and pepper. Toss bread pieces gently to coat, spraying with more oil if necessary. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until light golden. Set aside to cool completely.

Meanwhile, heat a non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Add bacon. Cook, stirring, for 3 to 4 minutes or until bacon is crisp and golden. Drain on paper towel.

Tear lettuce leaves into 3cm pieces and place in a large bowl. Add bacon and croutons. Pour dressing over salad. Season with salt and pepper. Toss gently to combine. Top with parmesan. Serve.