For many people, Ceasar salad dressing is a dish best left unexamined, especially if you have issues with raw anchovies because, yes, every decent recipe contains those little fellows. You can substitute capers for anchovies, but at that point just buy a bottle of chemical Ceasar salad at the store and call the cancer ward. This recipe makes the dressing from scratch rather than using mayonnaise for the base….there’s nothing wrong with the mayo version but why? You can of course buy Caesar salad dressing but why eat industrial chemicals when you can really impress your dinner date by making the dressing from scratch.
Ingredients
- 5 Anchovy fillets – smashed, use flat & packed in oil (i.e., filleted)
- 1 tsp Capers – smashed
- 2 Cloves Garlic – crushed then diced then smashed
- 1 Egg yolk
- 80 mg Olive oil – 1/3rd cup
- 1 TBL Mustard – for emulsifying
- 2 TBL Fresh Lemmon juice
- 15 g Parmesan cheese – finely grated
- 0.5 tsp Worcestershire sauce – optional
- Cracked pepper to taste
Process
- Mise en Place – Measure and prepare your ingredients prior to starting.
- Finely mince the garlic and anchovies. Smash them into a paste along with the capers using the side of your knife sliding along the cutting board.
- Whisk egg yolk, lemon juice and mustard in a bowl until integrated. Pour into a jar or glass large enough for your immersion blender (or keep in bowl to whisk by hand).
- Slowly stream the oil into the mustard mixture emulsifying as you go.
- Move the mixture up and down while adding the oil to fully integrate.
- Add more oil if the mixture is too thick.
- Add the Anchovy paste to the dressing, pulsing mixture until integrated.
- Add the Parmesan.
- Season to taste with pepper.
- Rest in for a few minutes or if in the fridge if not using until later.
Note: You can also try a creamy Caesar salad dressing to shake up your life.
