For the Manchego Caesar Salad with Chorizo Crumble
Ingredients
- Manchego Caesar Salad Dressing (recipe follows)
- 2 to 3 romaine hearts, torn into large pieces
- Chorizo Crumble (recipe follows)
- Roasted Cherry Tomatoes (recipe follows)
- Kosher salt
- Manchego cheese, for serving
Method
- Add about 1 tablespoon of the dressing to a large bowl and top with the lettuce. Drizzle lightly with more dressing, add some of the crumble, and toss, adding more dressing and crumble as needed. Season lightly with salt.
- Divide among chilled plates. Top with some of the roasted tomatoes, a bit more crumble and lots of freshly grated Manchego.
For the Manchego Caesar Dressing
Ingredients
- ½ cup grated Manchego cheese
- ¼ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 3 tablespoons garlic confit
- ½ teaspoon fish sauce
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
- ¼ cup canola oil
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 anchovy
- 1 cup mayonnaise, preferably Kewpie
Method
- In the cup of a blender, combine the cheeses, fresh and confit garlic, fish sauce, salt, sugar, pepper, oregano and lemon juice and blend until smooth. With the blender running, slowly stream in the oils. Lastly add in the anchovy and the mayonnaise and blend again, until smooth. Taste and adjust the seasoning as needed.
For the Chorizo Crumble
Ingredients
- ¾ cup crumbled Spanish chorizo
- 1 ½ cups panko breadcrumbs
Method
- Heat in a medium skillet over medium-high heat, add the chorizo and cook, stirring until crispy, about 5 minutes. Stir in the panko and cook to toast the breadcrumbs, about 1 minute more. Remove from the heat and cool to room temperature.
To make sure the chorizo crumble is uniform, I like to pulse it in a food processor.
To make garlic confit, fill a small ovenproof casserole or baking dish with peeled garlic cloves. Pour in enough olive oil to submerge. Cover the top and cook in a 250˚F oven until the cloves are completely tender, about 2 hours. Let cool to room temperature. Transfer the garlic to a storage container and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks. The garlic oil can also be refrigerated for up to 2 weeks.
The tomatoes can also be roasted in a 350˚F oven, just until they are heated through and the skins begin to shrivel around the edges, 30 to 45 minutes.
I know that Chef Pépin puts time and love into all that he does. One thing I like to watch him make are his croutons. For my Latin version of the classic Caesar salad, I use a different type of crunch with a crumble made with crispy chorizo and toasted panko breadcrumbs. The crumble and the dressing on this salad are already salty, so do as Chef Pépin does and always taste before seasoning.