Classic Caesar Salad with Homemade Caesar Dressing

Last weekend, our neighbors invited us over for dinner. They made spaghetti & meatballs (yum!) and this salad. Her son was saying to me how amazing it was even before we ate, especially the croutons. He was so right!

This salad is the perfect balance of crunchy and creamy. The dressing is almost peppery and I bet it would taste so good with other greens too, especially arugula! Even a squeeze of lemon would taste amazing on this. Just some more ideas for you… 🙂

As you can probably tell, I adore this salad. It’s not healthy. 🙂 But it’s beyond delicious. It’s one of those things that now that I’ve made it, I’ll never buy jarred caesar dressing again. It’s worth the few minutes to make it fresh! Oh, and if you have any on hand, shave a little fresh parm on top. It adds that extra little bit!

I hope you like it as much as I do! Let me know in the comments below how you like it!

Classic Caesar Salad with Homemade Caesar Dressing

Servings: 4-6
Time: 20 minutes
Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

2 romaine lettuces (about 15 oz.), chopped
2 small garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon anchovy paste (found near the canned tuna in the supermarket)
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, from one lemon
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
Kosher salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 day-old baguette, cut in 1/2 inch cubes
Olive oil

Directions

In a large serving bowl, add chopped lettuce and set aside.
To make the dressing, whisk together the garlic, anchovy paste, lemon juice, Dijon mustard and Worcestershire sauce in a medium bowl. Add the mayonnaise, Parmigiano-Reggiano, salt and pepper and whisk until well combined. Set aside.
To make the croutons, dice a day-old baguette into 1/2 inch cubes. Toss with a drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper. Bake on a metal cookie sheet at 400 for 6 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.
Once ready to serve, pour dressing over greens, add croutons and serve immediately (dressing will keep separately in the fridge for a week). Enjoy!