Caesar's Third Cousin's Pasta Salad

Total Time: 25 mins Preparation Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 10 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 6
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon fresh garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
• 2 teaspoons worcestershire sauce
• 3 dashes hot pepper sauce (such as tabasco)
• 1 teaspoon anchovy paste or 1 anchovy fillet, chopped small
• 2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• salt, to taste
• fresh ground black pepper, to taste
• 2 hard-boiled eggs (mashed or sliced)
• 4 cups cooked pasta, drained and chilled
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, freshly shaved
• 4 cups romaine lettuce hearts
• 1/2 cup diced red onions or 1/2 cup diced walla walla onion
• 1 small cucumber, sliced
• 1/4 cup basil leaves, cut into ribbons
• 1 small red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, deveined and diced
• 1 cup homemade crouton

Recipe

• 1 cook the hard boiled eggs and set aside to cool. once cooled, shell and mash (or slice).
• 2 dressing: in a non-reactive bowl, combine the lemon juice, garlic, dijon mustard, worcestershire and hot pepper sauce. whisk until blended. stir in the anchovy paste or fillet. slowly whisk in the olive oil.
• 3 salad: place the cooked pasta in a mixing bowl and toss with a generous amount of the dressing. next add the parmesan, egg, onion, cucumber, basil leaves and bell pepper.
• 4 cover mixing bowl and chill salad for at least 1 hour.
• 5 before serving arrange the romaine lettuce leaves and croutons around the edges of a large platter.
• 6 pile the chilled salad in the center. give the top of the salad a quick sprinkle of cracked black pepper. serve any remaining dressing on the side.