I absolutely love goat cheese, and I really love homemade caesar - especially when it is not doused with dressing. This salad is inspired by a dish that I had at Michel Richard's Central restaurant in D.C. When I saw caesar salad AND goat cheese on the menu, I knew it was something I had to try. This is my "home" version of a goat cheese caesar salad adding roasted tomatoes for color and flavor. I hope you enjoy!
This is the kind of recipe that has the veneer of a restaurant recipe, but the soul of one by a home cook. It has complexity -- a bed of seasoned goat cheese beneath the salad, a sprinkling of blistered cherry tomatoes, and a cap made of a baked parmesan crisp -- but each part is easy and can be made ahead of time. So don't sweat it. Put this on the menu for your next dinner party. One note: we didn't break up the romaine leaves -- instead, we used just the tender inner leaves and dressed them whole so we could stack them up, Suzanne Goin style.
Serves 2 or more
Caesar Dressing
1/3 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons good quality mayonnaise
1 garlic clove, grated
1.5 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon anchovy paste
2 teaspoons dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste
Salad
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
10 cherry tomatoes
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
2 heads of romaine lettuce (or how ever many you are serving)
4 ounces good goat cheese
1 garlic clove, grated
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon heavy cream
Mix all of dressing ingredients together. Add salt and pepper to taste. Place in refrigerator until ready to use.
Take goat cheese out of refrigerator to soften. Grate garlic and mix with oregano and cream. Mix softened goat cheese with herb cream mixture and set aside.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Toss cherry tomatoes with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper. Roast in oven for about 20 minutes or until tomatoes burst and brown in a few spots. Take out of oven and set aside.
Raise oven temperature to 400 degrees.
Pour a heaping tablespoon of parmesan on a silicone or parchment lined baking sheet. Repeat with 1/2 cup parmesan cheese spacing cheese at least 1/2 inch apart. Reserve 1/4 cup parmesan for serving. Bake for about 5 minutes until crisp and golden brown. Cool.
Clean romaine lettuce and trim. Place between damp paper towels and place in refrigerator until ready to use.
Pipe a portion of goat cheese mousse on bottom of one salad plate (depending on how much goat cheese you like). I use a ziploc bag with the corner cut off to make a pretty design or you can always spoon on the bottom. Repeat with remaining salad plates.
Toss romaine very lightly with dressing (be very sparse as I always put a little dressing on top of finished salad). Divide lettuce between salad plates.
Divide roasted tomatoes on top of salad. Drizzle about a tablespoon of dressing on lettuce and sprinkle with parmesan. Add parmesan crisp and serve.
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