A Caesar-like side salad to have at the ready this summer …
I made this on a whim when I was thinking about anchovies and my favourite puntarelle salads that they make in Rome around October. In many ways it has similarities to a Caesar dressing, but much lighter and greener, with a béarnaise-like taste from the tarragon.
I started with the salad, then decided it was exactly the sort of thing I wanted to eat next to a steak. It turned into the perfect lunch: the salad served alongside a deeply charred but blush-pink steak and buttery new potatoes. I’d eat this again and again.
Ingredients
Serves 2-4
For the salad
• 1 large fennel bulb, finely sliced
• 2 chicory heads, leaves separated
• 1 large handful watercress
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and black pepper
For the dressing
• 4 tbsp Crème fraîche
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tbsp capers
• 3 anchovy fillets
• Small handful parsley
• Small handful tarragon leaves
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and black pepper
Serving recommendation
• Steak, cooked how you like
• New potatoes, boiled and buttered
Method
1. Slice the fennel very finely. If you have a mandoline, now is the time to use it. Separate the chicory leaves and tumble everything into a large bowl with the watercress, some olive oil and salt and pepper.
2. For the dressing, add the Crème fraîche, mustard, capers, anchovies, herbs, lemon juice and olive oil to a blender or small food processor. Blitz until vivid green and pourable. You want it punchy, sharp and deeply savoury, so taste and adjust with more lemon, salt or pepper if needed.
3. Toss the salad with enough dressing to lightly coat everything. You want the leaves glossy, not drowned.
4. Serve alongside sliced steak and hot new potatoes with plenty of butter. Any extra dressing can be spooned over the potatoes too, which feels like the correct thing to do.
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