This flavour packed recipe is adapted from Rick Steins book called Spain. It’s a kind of Spanish version of Caesar salad and I’ve changed it slightly suit my tastes. I’ve replaced the little gem lettuces with radicchio and added my favourite salad veg, but it’s up to you which lettuce you prefer and the anchovies have gone in the dressing instead of laying them on top of the salad as I love them in the dressing. It’s my favourite with grilled fish like a big Dover sole.

Recipe

Ingredients

serves 6 as a starter or side or 2-3 as a main

3 slices of white crusty bread, or I used 2 sliced up bread rolls

1 tbs olive oil

6 eggs

1 largish radicchio or 3 little gem lettuces

several radishes very thinly sliced

a couple of green onions (spring onions) finely chopped

Dressing (I tend to make double the quantity as it works better for me)

4 anchovy fillets

1/2 -1 clove of garlic (I like it garlicky)

1 egg yolk

1 tsp of Dijon mustard or half a teaspoon of English

2 tsp of fresh lemon juice

1/2 tsp of maple syrup ,

8 tbs of olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

How

Make the croutons chopping up the bread and drizzling the slices of bread or roll slices with the tablespoon of olive oil and roasting in the oven at 180c on a baking tray till golden and crunchy. Set aside and season with salt.

Meanwhile put the eggs into a pan of boiling water and boil for 8 minutes or 7 if you like them softer. Drain and cover with cold water. I lightly crack the shell surfaces and leave them in the water so they are easier to peel later.

Make the dressing by combining the anchovies, garlic, lemon juice, mustard, maple syrup and egg yolk in a blender. Mix till smooth then very slowly add the olive oil, drip by drip as you do making a mayonnaise. Set aside.

Tear the washed and drained lettuces or radicchio into pieces and place in a salad bowl or on plates. Add the slices of radish and the chopped spring onion. Peel the boiled eggs and slice into the size you prefer. Add them to the salad. Next add the dressing and the croutons and serve straight away.

NB: it’s not advisable for pregnant women or people with a compromised immune system to eat raw eggs.