Caesar Salad with Pancetta
Amanda's trusty meat pounder proves its worth, yet again.
We had a very stubborn (and dry) lime.
Marie Viljoen calls for the yolk of a "lightly boiled egg." We coddled ours by dunking it in boiling water for a minute.
No more, no less.
When you coddle, the very outside of the white cooks and becomes opaque, and the yolk is warmed through.
Lime juice and the coddled egg yolk form the base of the dressing.
Anchovies and garlic are crucial additions.
Olive oil rounds out the dressing and makes it creamy.
A little parmesan, some salt and pepper, and the dressing it ready.
The crowning glory of this recipe: pancetta, two ways.
First, it's crisped in a pan.
And then the salty rendered fat is used to coat and toast rustic sourdough croutons.
A whisper of fresh garlic elevates the croutons from great to fantastic.
Amanda gets right in there and mixes the romaine and dressing with her hands.
Author Notes: That it was invented in Tijuana, Mexico, by an Italian, I did not know until two years ago. I claimed it as American. That the original may not have included anchovies? I did not know! There's a lot I don't know. I have no problem with raw egg yolk, but in this version's dressing I adore the creaminess of a softly-cooked yellow... - Marie Viljoen —Marie Viljoen
Food52 Review: This salad is everything a Caesar should be -- assertive, complex, and rich -- with a few bonus points tacked on for the inspired use of pancetta (both on its own and as an instrument for crisping the homemade sourdough croutons). Marie Viljoen's dressing is mostly traditional (egg yolk, anchovy, garlic, olive oil) but veers towards the creative with the addition of lime juice, which contributes a pleasantly bitter hit of acid. If you find the notion of swiping each individual crouton with fresh garlic overwrought, trust us -- it's worth it. - A&M —The Editors
Serves: 1
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juice of 1/2 a lime
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1
yolk from a lightly boiled egg (coddled for a minute or two in boiling water)
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2
Garlic cloves crushed fine
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3
Anchovy fillets, chopped small
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Black pepper
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5
tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
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4
tablespoons finely grated Parmigiano
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Salt
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1
Romaine lettuce head, cleaned and torn into bite-sized pieces
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3
thick slices pancetta, cooked till crispy
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1
slice sourdough bread, torn into 3/4-inch chunks
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1
Garlic clove, peeled, kept whole
- In a bowl beat the lime juice into the softly boiled egg yolk.
- Add the crushed garlic.
- Add the finely-chopped anchovies.
- Add black pepper.
- Gradually whisk in the oil.
- Add the Parmigiano.
- Taste. If you need salt, add it now.
- To the bowl, add the Romaine and toss well with your hands.
- Lick your fingers.
- In the same pan in which the pancetta crisped, toast the torn-up pieces of sourdough over medium heat. When crispy, rub each piece lightly with the whole garlic clove. Toss over salad.
- Add pieces of crispy pancetta.
- Enjoy with some cold, fruity white wine.
- Your Best Caesar Salad Contest Finalist!
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This is so good that I'm making it two days in a row. I was a little worried when I was making it since I've never coddled an egg before, but I followed the instructions and it came out PERFECTLY.
I doubled the recipe since I was cooking for two, but I ended up with more than enough dressing. I refrigerated the leftovers and it was still delicious the next day.
This dressing was FANTASTIC. I used lemon because its what I had, but finally, a Caesar salad dressing recipe that to me had just the perfect proportions of everything! I licked it off of a spoon! And the pancetta was a fantastic addition...
I really liked your picture! I made it today with a few shortcuts (no croutons even though I'm sure they would be over the top), used minced garlic and anchovy paste. It was really good!!
Heart-broken that I have spent so many years NOT rubbing the garlic clove on the bread after toasting. I have done in every other way only because I "didn't have the time". I am just hoping I have croutons left for my dinner party tonight. I am a true convert ... next time I will have to make extra!! Thank you, thank you.
Excellent!!! This was very tasty and the pancetta was a nice addition.
You had me at pancetta! I've never coddled an egg before, so I think I will have to give that a try. Sorry, I'm not sold on rubbing garlic on each crouton - I would either cook a little garlic in with the bread cubes or I'd toss the bread cubes with a small clove (minced) after they were toasted. Both salads sound yummy, but I lean toward this one.
Lol - I understand the hesitation. A good way to cheat the garlic is to fry a slice of sourdough in pancetta drippings, then rub a clove over the slice, and then tear or cut it up. But the raw-rubbed garlic has a flavor all it's own :-) Glad to see we're sisters-in-pancetta.
Finally made this salad tonight - wow! We loved the creaminess of the dressing and the flavor added by the crispy pancetta - thanks for sharing this, Marie.
Yum. This was delicious. We just finished eating and couldn't resist mopping up the salad bowl with extra croutons to get every drop of the dressing. And I agree with A & M about rubbing the croutons with garlic--totally worth it.
So glad! I'm a great mopper, too.
Congrats, Marie! This sounds so delicious.
This week is going to be exceptionally hard, both these recipes are fantastic!
I like the instruction to lick your fingers. Congrats!
Thank you!
Lovely as usual, Marie.
Hi, Miss Jen :-)
The lightly boiled egg is called a coddled egg. I know that this recipe is delicious because yesterday I made a Caesar Salad (for the contest) and then I added some fried pancetta for my meat eater husband. It was great...I tried a bite or two myself.
Huh! I didn't know that - I actually have coddling dishes for, well...coddling eggs, and didn't realize it applied to within-shell cooking, too. Thanks.
What do I use the coddling dishes for? Transporting things like individual lobster salads, or pate to picnics :-)
Showing 18 out of 18 comments