Caesar salad is one of those things that I forget how much I love it and then while I’m eating it I’m like.....”daaayyuuumm this shit be poppin!” I’m currently on a jag where I can’t get enough of it. The only problem is I have never found a store bought Caesar dressing that I love.
I’ve found:
Absolutely disgusting.
I can’t believe they dare to call this Caesar.
Meh.
and.....
I guess this will do.
But never great. So, I decided to start making my own. This way I can turn up the flavor too because if you know me at all you know I like my food to make you want to shoulder dance. I don't go for subtle too often. Like this dressing will be on your breath for a WHILE......but damn is it good! Who needs friends and family around when you can have this salad dressing instead. It offers the same comfort and happiness. I guess if you’re a pansy you can halve some of the ingredients in it (I will totally give you the judgy side eye though) like the garlic and anchovy paste...but I really don’t understand why you would want to. That’s what makes it so damn good!
Traditional Caesar dressing has raw egg yolk (gasp!) and oil (along with mustard, anchovy, garlic, lemon.....ya know) that is emulsified by hand and mixed directly in the salad bowl. In my recipe, we cut down on the work a tiny bit by using store bought mayo. But let me tell you something....this is not the time for bullshit mayo. No Kroger brand, Great Value, and for the love of GOD do not use low fat. This is the time to use quality mayo and for me, that means Dukes. I know there are battles of the mayo depending on where you’re from (Hellman’s people might be fuming right now) but if you haven’t tried Dukes you need to.
All you’re doing is adding all your ingredients together (minus the grated parm) and blending it. I like to use my immersion blender but a food processor or traditional blender will work just fine too. Then, stir in your parmesan by hand to give it a little texture. That’s it! It’s like 90% from scratch and 100% better than anything in a bottle.
