New Classic Caesar Salad Recipe From Our Test Kitchen
This Caesar is no yolk
Caesar dressing is a guaranteed crowd-pleaser, whether served drizzled over crisp romaine hearts, as a sauce alongside grilled chicken or in a lunchtime wrap. Making the dressing can present an age-old dilemma, though: to use raw egg yolk or not? In the test kitchen, we recently tested a recipe for carrot vinaigrette that called for a hard-cooked egg. Impressed by the vinaigrette's satiny texture and body, we used the same technique in a Caesar dressing. Ultra-smooth and wonderfully creamy, the result is one superb surprise.
Recipe from the Tasting Table Test Kitchen
New Classic Caesar Salad
Caesar Salad from the Tasting Table Test Kitchen
Prep Time
10
minutes
Cook Time
11
minutes
Servings
4
servings
Total time: 21 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup fresh lemon juice (from 2 lemons)
- ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- ½ small garlic clove, roughly chopped
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt, plus extra if needed
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 Romaine lettuce hearts, leaves separated
- 3 cups homemade or store-bought croutons
- Wedge of Parmigiano-Reggiano or other hard cheese, for shaving
Optional Ingredients
- 5 anchovy fillets (optional, but strongly encouraged)
Directions
- Hard-boil the egg: Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil over high heat. Add the egg, reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 11 minutes. Turn off the heat and place the cooked egg under cold running water. When the egg has cooled, roll on a hard surface to crack the shell. Peel.
- Make the dressing: To a blender, add the lemon juice, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, anchovies, garlic, ¼ teaspoon salt, the pepper and the peeled hard-boiled egg. Blend until smooth, about 30 seconds; then, with the blender running, drizzle in the olive oil a little at a time. Taste and add more salt if needed.
- Place the lettuce leaves on a large platter. Top with the croutons and drizzle with the dressing. Use a vegetable peeler to shave the Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese over the salad. Serve.