Name: The Best Caesar Salad
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 12 min
Total time: 32 min
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: 3 large romaine hearts; 4 cups, torn into rough chunks rustic bread (sourdough or ciabatta); 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil (for croutons); 2 cloves (for croutons) garlic, smashed; 6 anchovy fillets in oil; 2 cloves garlic, minced (for dressing); 2 egg yolks; 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice; 1 tsp Dijon mustard; 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce; 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil (for dressing); 1/2 cup, plus extra shaved for serving Parmigiano-Reggiano, finely grated; to taste kosher salt; to taste freshly cracked black pepper

The Best Caesar Salad

Prep

20m

Cook

12m

Total

32m

Bigly says

Let me tell you something about the Caesar salad. The BEST Caesar salad. And before we start, I need to clear something up, because there is a misinformation campaign — a CAMPAIGN — about this dish, and somebody has to set the record straight, and that somebody is me. The Caesar salad is not Italian. IT'S NOT ITALIAN. It was invented in TIJUANA. By a man named Caesar Cardini in 1924. Look it up. I had people look it up. They came back and said 'Bigly, you were right, as always.' I know. I'm always right. That's just a fact.

Now — and this is the part the other so-called salad experts get wrong — even though it was invented in Mexico by an Italian guy in a hotel kitchen during a long weekend, the salad is still ITALIAN in its bones. The parmesan. The anchovies. The garlic. The lemon. The olive oil. It's an Italian salad with a Mexican passport, and that's a beautiful thing, that's the kind of cross-border culinary friendship the world needs more of. A masterclass in two countries cooperating on a single bowl of leaves. Tremendous. Tremendous story.

And now, the dressing. The DRESSING. Most chefs are afraid to do this right. They will tell you to use bottled Caesar dressing. STOP. Put the bottle down. Walk away from the bottle. Bottled Caesar dressing is what happens when a salad gives up on itself — it is wet sadness on a plate, it is a confession of weakness, it is the white flag of a cook who couldn't be bothered to chop an anchovy. We're making the real thing. Anchovies. ANCHOVIES. I don't want to hear it. The people who say they don't like anchovies have never had anchovies done right. After this salad, they'll be eating anchovies out of the tin like a champion. Believe me.

Ingredients

3 largeromaine hearts(the inner pale leaves are the best, don't apologize for using them)
4 cups, torn into rough chunksrustic bread (sourdough or ciabatta)
3 tbspextra-virgin olive oil (for croutons)
2 cloves (for croutons)garlic, smashed
6anchovy fillets in oil(the good Italian ones in the glass jar, not the sad flat tin)
2 clovesgarlic, minced (for dressing)
2egg yolks(from fresh, clean eggs)
2 tbspfresh lemon juice
1 tspDijon mustard
1 tspWorcestershire sauce
1/3 cupextra-virgin olive oil (for dressing)
1/2 cup, plus extra shaved for servingParmigiano-Reggiano, finely grated(the real stuff, the wedge, not the dust in the green can)
to tastekosher salt
to tastefreshly cracked black pepper

Steps

1
Make the croutons: heat oven to 400°F. Toss the torn bread with 3 tbsp olive oil, the smashed garlic cloves, and a generous pinch of salt on a sheet pan. Bake 10-12 minutes, tossing once, until deep golden and crisp. Discard the garlic cloves. Cool.
2
Make the dressing: on a cutting board, chop the anchovies and minced garlic together, then mash with the side of a knife until they form a rough paste. Scrape into a medium bowl.
3
Whisk in the egg yolks, lemon juice, Dijon, and Worcestershire until smooth.
4
Slowly drizzle in the 1/3 cup olive oil while whisking constantly, until the dressing is thick and emulsified.
5
Whisk in the grated Parmigiano-Reggiano. Taste and season with salt and lots of black pepper. The dressing should taste sharp, salty, and bright.
6
Wash and dry the romaine hearts thoroughly (a salad spinner is non-negotiable here). Tear into large bite-size pieces.
7
In a large bowl, toss the romaine with about three-quarters of the dressing until every leaf is coated. Add more dressing if needed.
8
Add the croutons and toss once more. Plate immediately and top with extra shavings of Parmigiano-Reggiano and another grind of black pepper.

One more thing

That's the salad. That's the real thing. People will tell you they 'hate Caesar salad' and then they will eat half the bowl and say 'Wait. Wait, what is this.' And you can smile, you can smile that little quiet smile of someone who knows, and you can say 'It's Caesar.' They will be silent. They will sit there in silence because they've been LIED to their whole lives by bottles. By BOTTLES. The bottle lobby is real, the bottle lobby has been getting away with it for years, and tonight, in your kitchen, the bottle lobby loses. OK? OK.