I call this a breakfast salad cos, well, you know, it has bread and eggs. And I eat it for breakfast. (Food names and classifications are so arbitrary though – this could just as easily be eaten as a part of another meal too of course).
Caesar salad – a classic. I didn’t mean to go and mess about with a tried and tested/trusted recipe. But in my quest to make it breakfast friendly and also bulk it up, I took the liberty to make a few changes.
Pepperoni: I snipped a few slices into a pan and fried them up. They go nice and crunchy which gives you great textural contrast here. The flavoured oil that gets left behind in the pan from frying them? Tear your bread up into rough chunks and crisp them up in it. (Bacon would work here too. Same treatment with frying the bread in the bacon-y oil.)
Eggs: Boiled eggs are not an uncommon addition in a Caesar salad, but why make them regular boiled eggs when you can make them jammy? On the agenda.
The dressing is pretty standard – Dijon, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, Parmesan, anchovies (if you’re into it). I also like a dribble of Worcestershire sauce and shallots here. Lettuce remains the base.
BREAKFAST CAESAR SALAD WITH PEPPERONI
Ingredients
- 2 eggs
- 6 pepperoni slices
- 2 slices of bread
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- Romaine lettuce, to serve
Dressing:
- 2 teaspoons Parmesan, grated
- 2 teaspoons shallots/onion, finely chopped
- 1 ½ teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 large garlic clove, minced
- 2 anchovy fillets, finely chopped (optional)
Instructions
- Add enough water in a saucepan to be able to fully submerge the eggs. Cover and bring to a boil. Gently drop the eggs into the boiling water using a spoon. Place the lid back on and cook for exactly 7 mins.
- Meanwhile, fill a small bowl with water and ice cubes. Scoop the eggs out and add to the bowl. Let them sit while you get on with the rest of the stuff.
- Chop the pepperoni into small pieces and fry in a pan until crisp. Set aside. Retain the pan.
- Add 2 teaspoons of olive oil to the same pan. Scrape up any pepperoni bits using a spatula. Tear the bread into rough chunks and toss in the oil. Cook until crispy and browned.
- Dressing: stir all the ingredients listed above in a small bowl. Add a little water to thin it out–about 1 tablespoon or so. Taste and adjust seasoning.
- Gently peel the eggs and halve them.
- To serve, toss roughly chopped lettuce and the bread with the dressing. Use your hands for this. Top with the eggs and pepperoni and serve immediately.
Notes
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