Grilled Romaine Lettuce with Creamy Caper Dressing

A close up of grilled romaine lettuce on a white plate topped with pancetta and Parmigiano Reggiano.

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Grilled Romaine Lettuce with Creamy Caper Dressing

Grilled Romaine Lettuce with a simple creamy caper dressing and topped with crispy pancetta and shavings of Parmigiano Reggiano. This recipe is super easy and is packed full of flavour, perfect served with steak or grilled meats.

Prep Time20

Cook Time5

Total Time25

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: Modern Italian

Servings: servings

Author: Emily Wyper

Ingredients

2 large Romaine lettuces
3.5 oz (100g) pancetta or guanciale , cut into cubes
Parmigiano Reggiano to shave on top
1 tbsp olive oil

for the dressing

1 tbsp capers
3 salted anchovies
4 baby gherkins
2 heaped tablespoons mayonnaise
2 heaped tablespoons sour cream
1 garlic clove
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 squeeze lemon (about 1 teaspoon)
pepper to season

Instructions

Cut the romaine lettuce in half and rise it well. Sit it cut side down on kitchen paper or a clean towel to dry.
Finely chop the capers, anchovies, garlic and gherkins and place in a bowl. Add the mayonnaise, mustard, lemon juice and sour cream and mix until all combined. Sprinkle with pepper and set aside.
In a small frying pan fry the pancetta until crispy, set aside.
Put a large griddle pan on a high heat. Place the romaine lettuce cut side down on the griddle pan and grill for 1-2 minutes until charred.
Place on a serving plate, drizzle with the dressing (you won't need it all) and scatter over the crispy pancetta. Finish with shaved Parmigiano Reggiano and a sprinkle of pepper. Enjoy.

Notes

Don't grill for too long - once your grill is hot your romaine lettuce only needs 1-2 minutes or it'll start to wilt too much and turn soggy.

Leftover dressing - the dressing makes a little more than you'll need for serving. It'll keep well for up to 4-5 days in the fridge and can be used as a dip for roast potatoes, veggies or on more salad.

Don't over season it - the dressing shouldn't need any salt because of the mayonnaise and anchovies. We're then adding salty pancetta on top of the salad so I don't add any salt to this dish at all.

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