The lemon-caper dressing that thinks it's a Caesar
Bright, briny and thin enough that every leaf gets some.
At a Glance
Story
Think of this as a Caesar that skipped its therapy and came out lighter for it, all the salt and swagger with none of the egg and mayonnaise dragging at its ankles. The one thing you must not shortcut is the pounding. Work the capers and garlic into a proper paste rather than a mince, because a paste melts right through the dressing and seasons every last leaf, where a lazy chop just sits about in lumps waiting to ambush one unlucky forkful.
Ingredients
- 1 clove garlic
- ¼ tsp black pepperabout 10 grinds
- 1 tsp capersabout 18
- 3 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 5 tbsp freshly grated Parmesan
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
Method
A five-minute dressing that eats like you fussed. It wants sturdy leaves that can carry it: arugula, romaine, kale, radicchio, or steamed vegetables, a halved hard-boiled egg, a bowl of warm grains.
- On a board, smash and roughly mince the garlic. Pile on the pepper and the capers, then drag the flat of your knife across the heap again and again, pressing as you go, until it slumps into a coarse paste. The capers are your salt here, so they earn their keep by melting in.
- Scrape the paste into a bowl and stir in the lemon juice, then the Parmesan. Now trickle in the olive oil, stirring all the while, until it thickens and emulsifies into something glossy.
- Taste it on a leaf of whatever you are dressing and balance it: more lemon for brightness, more oil to soften, a few more capers or a shower of cheese for salt. Trust your own mouth over my measurements, they were only a suggestion.
It keeps two days covered in the fridge, though it rarely gets the chance.
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