Recipe

April 7, 2021

Romaine Caesar Gratin

Recipe: Eric Ripert

Try this Romaine Caesar Gratin recipe from the new cookbook, Vegetable Simple.

Inspired by my dear friend Laurent Manrique, this is a clever play on a Caesar salad. The obvious difference is that the romaine is served quartered and broiled for the gratin effect, but it keeps its crunchiness and freshness. Enjoy straightaway before the romaine wilts or gets soggy.

Ingredients

  • 2 egg yolks
  • 1 garlic clove, sliced
  • 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
  • 3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
  • ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • Fine sea salt
  • 4 jumbo romaine lettuce hearts, halved lengthwise and trimmed
  • 2 cups freshly grated parmesan cheese (about 8 oz.)
  • Freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Yield: Serves 4

  1. In a blender, combine the yolks, garlic, mustard, and lemon juice and purée at medium speed while slowly drizzling in the olive oil, until it is fully incorporated and the dressing resembles a thick mayonnaise. Taste and season with salt. (This dressing will keep in the refrigerator up to 3 days.)
  2. Preheat the broiler or oven to 500°F.
  3. Lay out the romaine halves, cut side up, on a sheet pan large enough to hold them in a single layer. Brush each half with some of the dressing, making sure that it gets between the leaves. Cover each romaine half with parmesan and bake or broil until the cheese is bubbling and golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Finish with a pinch of pepper and serve immediately.
Photographer:

Nigel Parry

Source:

Excerpted from Vegetable Simple by Eric Ripert. Copyright © 2021 Eric Ripert. Photography by Nigel Parry. Published by Appetite by Random House®, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.