Caesar and the Goddess
mrslarkin
Photo by Julia Gartland. Food stylist: Ericka Martins. Prop stylist: Megan Hedgpeth.
- Serves
- 4
- Prep Time
- 25 Minutes
- Cook Time
- 15 Minutes
If Caesar Salad and Green Goddess had a baby, this would be it. The shrimp just came for the party. - mrslarkin
Ingredients
for the shrimp and the garlic toast planks
- 20 extra large shrimp, peeled, tails left on and deveined
- 3 garlic cloves, 2 peeled and sliced, and 1 left whole
- fresh tarragon
- kosher or sea salt
- fresh cracked black pepper
- olive oil
- 1 baguette
for the salad and dressing
- 2 Romaine lettuce hearts, leaves washed and dried
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 cup Hellman’s olive oil mayonnaise, or homemade
- juice of ½ to 1 whole lemon
- 4 tablespoon (or a good handful) flat-leaf parsley
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled
- 2 tablespoon (or a half-handful) fresh tarragon, plus more for the salad
- 6 good quality oil-packed anchovy filets
- 2 tablespoon grated Parmigiano Reggiano (microplaned), plus more for topping salad
- kosher or sea salt
- fresh cracked black pepper
- 20 cooked shrimp
Featured Video
This salad sure has a lot of my favorite ingredients -- shrimp, anchovies, tarragon and parsley. The dressing is delicious. If you use homemade mayo, you have the egg and olive oil like a classic Caesar. But bottled mayo is just fine. So, parsing the dressing recipe reveals that the ingredients not usually in a Caesar are tarragon, parsley and shrimp. These ingredients are in a Green Goddess dressing, so it is a perfect marriage of the two. The shrimp dressed up in garlic tarragon and olive oil make an award winning appearance. Congratulations on a great recipe! Note: the tarragon really ramps up the anchovy flavor, so if you have a anchovy intolerant eater you might use a few less anchovies. - dymnyno
Directions
for the shrimp and the garlic toast planks
- Step 1
Heat broiler.
- Step 2
In a bowl, toss together the shrimp, garlic, some fresh tarragon, some salt, 4 or 5 grindings of pepper and a drizzle of olive oil. Set aside and let marinate for a few minutes.
- Step 3
For the garlic toast planks, slice the baguette in half, then lengthwise into four long thin slices, or however you like. Toast (or broil) in a hot oven for just a few minutes, until bread takes on some color. Watch it carefully, or you’ll have burnt toast! Remove from oven.
- Step 4
Rub toast planks with the whole garlic clove, and drizzle with olive oil. Set aside.
- Step 5
Heat a large saute pan (I use non-stick) with a bit of olive oil to medium/high heat. Add shrimp and sauté for just a few minutes on each side, or until opaque and cooked through. The shrimp will take on a lovely shade of pink/orange. Set aside.
for the salad and dressing
- Step 1
Cut Romaine leaves into 1” pieces and place in a large bowl. Set aside.
- Step 2
In a blender, combine milk, mayo, lemon juice, parsley, garlic, tarragon, anchovies and Parmigiano. Hit the puree button and let it go until nice and smooth. If too thick, add a splash of milk and whiz it again. Taste for salt. Stir in a little pepper. Set aside.
- Step 3
Sprinkle fresh tarragon over the salad. Dollop a few big spoonfuls of the dressing onto the salad. Toss well. Add more dressing if desired. Shower some Parmigiano over top and toss lightly. Store remaining dressing in refrigerator.
- Step 4
Plate the salad. Arrange 5 shrimp on each salad. Spoon a bit of dressing onto the shrimp. Grate more Parmigiano over top. Garnish with garlic toast planks alongside.