This salad recipe is for a caesar salad.  A caesar salad is a favourite salad for many and uses caesar dressing.

Ingredients – Serves 4

• 250g romaine lettuce
• 250g iceburg lettuce
• 8 thick slices of white bread
• 100g grate Parmesan cheese
• 50g flaked Parmesan cheese
• Caesar dressing
• Vegetable oil, for frying

Getting everything ready

1. Make the Caesar dressing and store in the fridge until required.
2. Cut the crusts off the bread and cut the slices into approx. 1cm croûtons.
3. Grate the Parmesan cheese on a fine grate and spread the cheese out on a shallow tray.  Cut the remaining Parmesan into flakes using a potato peeler.
4. Wash and dry the lettuce leaves.  Using your fingers, tear the leaves into a large clean bowl.
5. Put the oil into a pan and heat to about 180°C (Gas Mark 4).  When the oil is hot enough, carefully add the croûtons and fry until golden in colour.  Only fry a few at a time so as not to overload the pan and ensuring an even colour to all the croûtons.
6. When the croûtons are cooked, quickly remove them from the pan using a slotted spoon and place in a colander to drain away any excess oil.
7. While the croûtons are still hot, place them onto the baking tray with the cheese and shake them around until the croûtons are slightly coated with the cheese.  Lay the croûtons onto kitchen paper to dry and cool.

Method

1. Mix the lettuce in a large bowl, add enough caesar dressing to give the lettuce a generous coating and mix well with your fingers.
2. Divide the coated leaves between your plates.
3. Sprinkle the croûtons over each plate.
4. Drizzle some more caesar dressing over each plate.
5. Garnish the caesar salad with flakes of Parmesan.

When cutting the croutons, rub the back of the knife with a peeled clove of garlic after every cut.  This will give the croutons a subtle hint of garlic.

Salad making tips

We have put together some great tips for making great tasting and simple salads. This includes the use of olive oil and extra virgin olive oil.

Other salad recipes