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.
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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.