Sardine Caesar Salad.

One of my favourite pantry lunches. I make the caesar aioli and keep it in a jar, you can get a few lunches out of the below quantity, either watered down as a dressing or dolloped along side chicken, veg, steak, chips etc or spread on a sandwich. Many potential applications, none of them bad. Once you have the aioli in the fridge, the salad comes together in minutes. A tin of sardines and some stale bread get a new life in this salad with some crispy cos lettuce, lots of tarragon and topped with chives and parmesan.

Ingredients:

Caesar Aioli:

2 egg yolks

2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely grated

6-8 anchovies, chopped and smooshed into a paste

1 generous tablespoon seeded mustard

1 generous tablespoon dijon mustard

Heaps of black pepper (a lot!)

50g parmesan, finely grated

200ml olive oil

200ml neutral oil

Juice of 1 lemon

Salad:

A couple of butts of sourdough, or some other stale bread

An extra glug of olive oil

Salt and pepper

A very generous handful of finely chopped tarragon

1 tin of good quality sardines

1 head of cos lettuce, torn roughly

Chives, chopped thinly, for serving

Extra parmesan, grated finely, for serving

Method.

Start by preparing your aioli. Combine the yolks, garlic, anchovies, mustards, black pepper and parmesan in a large mixing bowl with a whisk.

Nest your bowl onto a tea towel that has been twisted and spiralled to hold your bowl still for the next step.

Very slowly, while whisking constantly and vigorously, stream in your olive oil until you have a thick, emulsified aioli. Stream the oil very slowly and whisk constantly throughout this step, if you notice it not coming together, pause the oil and whisk until it does. Once all of the olive oil is added, begin with the neutral oil and continue as above until all the oil is added.

Squeeze in your lemon juice and whisk again to combine evenly, you will notice the mixture lighten in colour. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt/pepper/more lemon as needed.

For the salad, preheat your oven to 180 C and cut or tear your bread into chunky croutons. Add to a bowl with a good glug of olive oil, salt and a generous amount of pepper and toss around to coat evenly.

Spread out on a baking tray and place in centre position in the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until golden and crispy all over. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.

In a large mixing bowl, add a couple of generous spoonfuls of the aioli and a small splash of water and whisk until you have a good dressing consistency. You want it loose enough to spread across everything well but thick enough to coat it nicely. If you add too much water, don’t worry - add some more aioli until you get it right.

Add in the chopped tarragon and tin of sardines and mix just enough to combine but not break up your sardines too much. Then add your croutons and cos and toss around until everything is well coated.

Service with a generous grating of parmesan on top and a handful of chopped chives.