Caesar's Salad

 This Caesar salad recipe comes to us from co-founder Justin’s father, who would make it from scratch as a side to barbecued rib-eye steak. Justin tweaked the classic recipe by adding homemade croutons spiced with rosemary and garlic, which play well with the strong, punchy dressing.

Ingredients

For the Salad & Croutons:

2 hearts Romaine lettuce (younger, lighter-coloured leaves are best)
1/4-1/2 loaf sourdough bread (enough to make around 3 cups of croutons) 
2 tbsp olive oil 
1 tsp garlic salt 
1 tsp dried rosemary leaves 
30g Parmesan, freshly grated 

For the Dressing: 

4-6 fillets of anchovies (tinned is best) 
2 cloves garlic, any green cores removed 
2 egg yolks 
2 tsp Dijon mustard 
1 tbsp red wine vinegar 
Juice of half of a lemon 
1/4 cup olive oil 
1/4 tsp Worcester sauce 
1/4 tsp Tabasco sauce

Serves 4-6

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C fan. Cut lettuce into 5cm chunks, rinse in a colander, and pat dry. Wrap in a tea towel and put in the crisping drawer of the fridge.
2. With a mortar and pestle or a spice grinder, grind the dried rosemary leaves. Cut bread into 2cm cubes and toss with olive oil, garlic salt and ground rosemary. Spread croutons out on a baking sheet and toast in the oven until golden brown (about 10-15 minutes), turning the baking sheet halfway through.
3. Meanwhile, blend dressing ingredients together with a hand blender, starting with 4 anchovies and 1 tbsp red wine vinegar. Taste and add more to adjust flavour to your liking.
4. Add lettuce to a large (ideally wooden) bowl, pour in the dressing and half the Parmesan cheese. Toss well and add croutons. Season with fresh, coarse black pepper. Serve the remaining Parmesan on the side.

BK Tips

• You can make the croutons in advance, or make extra to use for later. It keeps well in a sealed container for up to 4 weeks.