A riff on Caesar Salad from Thomasina Miers
Ingredients
- 2 thick slices sourdough cut into 3cm cubes
- 3-4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- ½ tsp smoked paprika
- 2 tbsp capers drained and dried on kitchen paper
- 2 large cos lettuces
- 270 g smoked mackerel fillets
- 70 g grana padano or parmesan finely grated
- For the dressing:
- 2 egg yolks
- Juice of ½ lemon
- 2 tsp red wine vinegar
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
- 6 anchovy fillets drained and chopped
- 2 small garlic cloves peeled and crushed
- salt and black pepper
- 100 ml olive oil
- 100 ml vegetable oil
Servings:
Instructions
- To make the dressing, put the egg yolks, lemon juice, vinegar, mustard, anchovies and garlic in the bowl of a small food processor, add a pinch of salt and blitz to a paste. With the motor running, gradually add the oils, beginning with a very slow, thin trickle and slowly moving up to a thin stream once the ingredients have emulsified.
- Blend to a smooth sauce, adding one or two tablespoons of water towards the end, until the dressing is the consistency of pouring cream. Adjust the salt or lemon juice to taste.
- To make the croutons, put a frying pan on a medium heat. After a few minutes, add two tablespoons of the oil and the cubes of bread, season with a few pinches of salt and saute, stirring, for four to five minutes, until golden and crisp all over; add more oil if needed.
- Sprinkle with the paprika, fry for half a minute longer, then transfer to a plate. Add the remaining oil to the pan, turn up the heat and fry the capers for a minute or two, until they start to pop and turn crisp.
- Cut the lettuces in half lengthways and break up the leaves, then wash and dry them. Mix the leaves, croutons and mackerel in a large bowl, flaking the fish into generous chunks (fry the skin in the frying pan until crisp and use this to garnish the salad, if you like).
- Toss the lot in the dressing and cheese, then arrange on plates and top with the crisp capers and freshly ground black pepper. Taste: there will be saltiness from the parmesan, capers and dressing, but you may need a touch more. When it’s tasting irresistibly good, serve.
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