The four of us are in Italy for a family vacation and we have had some delicious dishes! Of course we are all vowing to not eat bread and pasta again for a year! Believe it or not, my favorite thing so far (besides the Prosecco:) has been the Caesar salad that we had our first night in Rome.
Caesar salad was created in 1924 in Mexico by an Italian immigrant named Caesar Cardini. One evening when a huge and unexpected crowd showed up at his restaurant, Cardini had to get creative with his ingredients and made the first “Caesar Salad” creating it at tableside for extra flare. It was made with romaine lettuce, croutons, parmesan cheese and a dressing which included olive oil, egg, garlic, worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper but interestingly enough no anchovies.
The typical salads in Italy are very simple and come with no dressing! Olive oil and balsamic are the only option. But as I said, on our first night I had the best Caesar that I had ever had. Here’s what you’ll need:
A large bag of (chilled) Romaine lettuce
A small block of hard Parmesan cheese
Half a loaf of Italian or French bread
Caesar dressing of your choice - the creamy ones in your store’s refrigerated section taste best. (We like Marie’s but I’ve heard that Ken’s Steakhouse Creamy Caesar is excellent! If you want an anchovy taste, try Marzetti’s Caesar Supreme.)
Opt. 6 strips of thick cut bacon
Preheat oven to 350
Step 1. Cut the bread into large 1 &1/2 inch chunks, (Opt. Brush them with a bit of olive oil and garlic salt) and toast them in the oven for about 5 minutes (until they begin to turn a very light golden brown.)
Step 2. Take a very sharp knife or a cheese slicer and carefully cut paper thin slices of the parmesan.
Step 3. Cook the 6 strips of bacon and tear into large bite sized chunks. - We have been making lots of uncured (nitrate free) bacon with a device for the microwave called the “Bacon Wave”—super easy to use with hardly any cleanup involved.
Step 4. Chop the lettuce and toss with dressing, some coarse sea salt and a few cranks of cracked pepper. Arrange the croutons, slices of parmesan and bacon in whatever design you choose. Finally top with about 5 more cranks of black pepper.
* Serve on chilled plates. Nice restaurants often serve their salads on chilled plates and it makes all the difference!)
Looking Back
Two other wonderful and super fresh Italian appetizers that we have featured are: Burrata Cheese and Caprese. Both of these “Antipasti” are made with forms of Fresh Mozzarella (either cow or buffalo milk.) “Buffalo” doesn’t refer to the American bison. Instead, it is a water buffalo, a cow-like creature which won’t crush you to death when you try to milk it! Burrata Cheese is a mixture of fresh mozzarella and cream! Beyond yum!
Fun Saying
The Italians of course have lots of colorful sayings. I love the one: “Porca miseria!” which literally means, “Pig’s misery” or DAMNIT! (What more can I say:)