I realized on my last trip to New York that I was obsessed with Caesar Salad. It’s crisp and creamy, delicate and savory, simple and unique. And since ordering it and eating it was as fun as devouring a double cheeseburger, once I got home, I started missing those salads. Especially the classic version, but also the more elaborate variations (like the bottarga version at Lamia’s Fish Market), which inspired me to refashion a Caesar Salad to my own taste – a little American and a little Italian – with just one unbreakable rule: the dressing.
You’ll see in the recipe below that I tweaked the ingredients a bit, but I didn’t change the dressing at all. The dressing is perfect the way it is, so balanced and delicious – beyond improvement. Here it is: my obsession.
The Recipe
Serves 4:
16 anchovy fillets packed in oil, 4 slices Puglian-style bread (a round, rustic loaf), 4 hard-boiled eggs, 2 heads Romaine lettuce, Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, grated, to taste, Caesar salad dressing, Ground chili pepper, Garlic to taste, Extra-virgin olive oil, Salt
To make my Italian-style Caesar Salad, chop the bread into small cubes and sauté them until golden with a little garlic, olive oil and chili pepper. Separate the lettuce leaves, wash and dry them, tear them into bite-sized pieces and distribute them on the plates. Dress them with a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil and a pinch of salt, adding to each portion a sliced boiled egg, 4 anchovy fillets and a grind of fresh pepper. Top with the Caesar dressing and a few shavings of a Parmigiano- Reggiano-type cheese (I chose a stravecchio aged for 30 months).