Every Italian meal deserves a salad, right? This weekend, I made a Butternut Squash Risotto with Sage, and Chili Shrimp to celebrate my mom’s birthday, Mother’s Day, and another successful opera she put together with her company Belcantanti Opera.

I was standing in pantry deciding on flavors and my stack of anchovy tins caught my eye. I decided to make some Caesar dressing, fighting I could make the dressing in advance and assemble the salad when I get to my parents.

I go half and half with tradition with this dressing. I love the traditional flavors and do find that boiling the egg for a minute before emulsifying it helps the texture, but I am not in the mood to Whisk by hand to emulsify all of this oil. I use an immersion blender which works wonders and makes this process much quicker and less painless. You will make enough dressing for two salads, but I find that easier than trying to divide an egg in half.

You can use any time of salad greens. Romaine or escarole are the tradition, but I have been known to use frisée or arugula because I like the flavor!

Caesar Salad with Anchovies

dressing:
1 egg, boiled for 1 minute
1 cup olive oil
1/4 tsp Dijon mustard
5 anchovy fillets, ground/mashed
3 cloves garlic, mashed
3 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
1 cup Parmesan
1/8 tsp Tabasco or hot sauce
1/8 tsp Worcestershire
salt and pepper to taste

croutons:
5 inch baguette, very thinly sliced (1/16 inch)
2 tbsp butter, melted
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

salad:
10-12 cups of salad greens, escarole, romaine, arugula, frisée, kale (if you use kale, massage in the dressing with your fingers for 3 min)
Anchovies, drained
Parmesan, freshly grated

1. Blend egg in a tall cup with immersion blender.
2. Slowly add oil and continue to blend.
3. Add remaining ingredients, blend until even.
4. Season with salt and pepper. Adjust seasoning if needed, sometimes I like a bit more lemon juice.
5. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
6. Coat baguette slices in oil and butter. Season with salt and pepper.
7. Toast in oven for 5 minutes, flip, and toast until just golden. Between 1-8 min more depending on how thin you sliced. Allow to cool.
8. Add croutons and 1/2 cup dressing to a bowl. Mix and let absorb a few minutes.
9. Add salad greens and 1/3 – 1/2 cup more dressing, to taste.
10. Garnish with Anchovies and Parmesan. Serve immediately.

Total cooking time: 25 minutes, serves 6-8