Caesar pasta salad
Welcome to To Vegetables, With Love, a celebration of a vegetable life, less ordinary. Find archived recipes on my recipe index.
My book Tenderheart is available from Books are Magic, Kitchen, Arts and Letters, Book Larder, Bold Fork Books and also here or here.
After almost a decade of living in America, there is still a lot I don’t understand about the culture. To avoid going off topic, I won’t mention healthcare, education, patriotism, guns or the use of the word ‘guest’ in retail environments. But what I will talk about is caesar salad.
Americans have a never-ending obsession with Caesar salad and I completely get why. It is a simple dish, yes, but the components are actually incredibly well balanced and intentional. It offers a symphony of textures that are deceivingly complex (the fresh crunch of lettuce in tandem with the sassier crispness of breadcrumbs), with a dressing that is punchy yet creamy, and very easy to eat.
As my kids have gotten older and are now very open to eating salad for dinner, I often turn to Caesar salad as a midweek saviour, usually beefed up with some crispy chickpeas, chargrilled broccoli, or pan-fried tofu. And yes, unsurprisingly, I also top Caesar salad with pan-fried dumplings.
Caesar salad also serves inspiration for recipes like this very untraditional cabbage wedge caesar or my hefty Brussel sprout Caesar from my book Neighbourhood.
As often happens when a dish becomes ubiquitous, cookbooks and the internet are flooded with Caesar salad recipes, all with distinctly different techniques. A real Caesar dressing is one that I’ve never made because it typically contains anchovies and garlic, emulsified with egg yolks. Pati Jinich, the chef, cookbook author and TV host (her most recent series is the brilliant La Frontera) recently wrote about Caesar salad’s Mexican origins, inextricably linked to the border town of Tijuana which commemorated the dish’s 100th birthday this year with a four-day festival. For those interested in the “original” Caesar salad recipe, it is here.
The Caesar dressing that I fall back on is mayonnaise based. To achieve the briny quality, I turn to capers which deliver both pungency and saltiness. I like to add some caper brine too, to inject more vigor. I round it off with grated garlic and lemon juice, and season it well. Sometimes, if I have time and the oven is on, I will roast a few cloves of garlic until soft and creamy, which I’ll then mash and add to the dressing, delivering a lovely sweet hum. My version is easy to veganize too when you opt for a plant based mayonnaise.
The intellectual origins of this week’s salad belong to
who writes the brilliantly clever and culinarily significant . While I have been anointed by many as the ‘salad queen’ over the years, if there was another person who legitimately deserves that crown, it would be Emily. Maybe together, we can be the salad queens and rule the world with broccoli shaped sceptres?But I digress. Back to Emily Rees Nunn’s caesar salad pasta which offers the smart technique of sizzling the garlic and anchovies before adding the lettuce which is cooked until a little wilted (everyone here should know I much I love cooked lettuce).
For my recipe, I went more literal – I made a mayo-based, vegan caesar dressing and tossed it through lettuce, radicchio (optional but recommended) and warm pasta. I tenderize the leaves a little to start with by slathering it with the dressing, and letting it rest for a short while, mainly just while the pasta cooks. Hearty and bold, the salad can also hang around a while so perfect for days when everyone gets hold at different times (hello school year!) or for taking to a potluck.
COOK / EAT / SHARE
NEW RECIPES
I have two new tofu recipes on NYT Cooking this week. Both give tofu their time to shine:
A quick and warming tomato and ginger braised tofu
My favourite ginger scallion sauce served with tofu and bok
This month’s recipe at ABC LIFESTYLE (formerly ABC EVERYDAY) is the sandwich of my dreams - vegetarian muffuletta. There’s something about roasted veggies in a sandwich that always gets me.
EVENT: PHILLY!
EXCITING NEWS. I will doing my very first book event in Philadelphia this October. I’ll be there as part of the annual Cookbooks and Convos, a celebration of chefs, authors and the Philadelphia Food Community. There are so many great authors in town so make sure you check out the schedule. My particular event will be at the incredible and new Bastia (located at the stunning Anna & Bel hotel in Fishtown) - chef Tyler Atkins will be cooking a vegetarian set menu inspired by TENDERHEART, offering a melting pot of flavors and ingredients that blends our sensibilities. I’ve seen the menu Tyler is working on and it is so inspiring and shows how adaptable the recipes from TENDERHEART are. I’ve never seen my recipes interpreted in such a dynamic, fun way, so if you’re in Philly, please come and experience this menu. I’ll also be there at both sittings, signing your books and chatting, if you’d like to chat (I love to!).
Reserve your seats here.
🥦 My cookbook, Tenderheart is for cooking vegetables, all year round. Pick up your copy here. It is also mostly vegan (or vegan-izable) and gluten-free adaptable.
THIS WEEK’S RECIPE
Caesar pasta salad
© Hetty Lui McKinnon for To Vegetables, With Love
The lettuce could be replaced with any type of leafy green – kale is a great sub, but you could also use thinly shaved cabbage or brussels sprouts. I make my own breadcrumbs from stale bread – if you don’t have any, and you need to use something store-bought, I recommend buying packets of crunchy seasoned croutons and then crushing them.
Serves 6
Quick caesar dressing
1/2 cup plant based or regular mayonnaise
1 tablespoon capers, chopped
1 tablespoon caper brine (optional)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 clove garlic, grated
sea salt and black pepper
Salad
250g (9 ounces) cos/romaine or other crisp lettuce, roughly chopped
100g (3.5 ounces) radicchio or other bitter leaves, roughly chopped (optional)
450g (1 pound) short pasta
extra virgin olive oil
2 sliced scallions or a handful of chopped parsley (or both)
zest of 1/2 - 1 lemon
sea salt and black pepper
Crunchy breadcrumbs
170g (6 ounces) stale bread (or 2 cups fresh breadcrumbs)
extra virgin olive oil
sea salt black pepper
In a medium bowl, add the mayonnaise, capers, caper brine (if using), lemon juice, garlic, and 2 tablespoons of water and whisk to combine. Season with salt and black pepper.
Place the lettuce and radicchio (if using) into a large bowl. Add the Caesar dressing and drizzle with about 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Toss and set aside while the pasta cooks. This time will help tenderize the lettuce.
Place the stale bread into a small food processor or blender and blitz until they become crumbs.
Preheat the oven to 180˚ C / 350˚ F. Place the breadcrumbs onto a baking sheet. Drizzle generously with olive oil and season with ½ teaspoon of salt and lots of black pepper. Spread the breadcrumbs into a thin layer and bake until golden and crunchy, 15-18 minutes, tossing every 3-4 minutes to promote even browning. Set aside to cool.
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to the boil and add the pasta. Cook according to packet instructions until al dente.
While the pasta is still warm, add it to the lettuce and toss immediately (warm pasta will soak up flavour more efficiently). Add half of the breadcrumbs along with the scallions or parsley, the lemon zest and season well with salt and black pepper. Serve warm, or at room temperature. When ready to eat, top with more breadcrumbs.
Io Vegetables, With Love is my love letter to vegetables and it is a joy to bring you a new recipe every week. Thank you to everyone who subscribes, especially to paid subscribers who make this work possible.
Will definitely be trying this, but, did I miss the pasta quantity?
I love a good Caesar salad and of course a good pasta salad! This sounds perfect.