Lemon Parsley Anchovy and Garlic Dressing

This Lemon Parsley Anchovy and Garlic Dressing is all about salty and garlicky goodness. Great way to spruce up any salad recipe!

At The Devil Wears Salad, we love making creamy salad dressings that we can fold through salads or line the base of a gorgeous platter and serve the salad on top of it.

Over time, we have used all sorts of dairy and mayonnaise components to create the lovely textures and for this recipe, we’re going to use ricotta.

Ricotta is a soft and fluffy cheese and therefore ticks all the boxes for a delectably light salad dressing. Ricotta is very different to all other cheeses because it is made from whey instead of the curd.

During a normal cheese making process, you have to separate the milk. This process produces the curd, which are the solid forms and the whey, which is the liquid that is left behind.

The curd is then separated from the whey and used to make whatever cheese it is you want to make. The whey is technically the byproduct of that process.

So as not to waste the whey, it is then repurposed to create ricotta. The whey is heated with the addition of some vinegar to raise the acidity and whatever curd is left behind starts to coagulate.

Once this becomes more solidified, it is strained through a cheesecloth to capture all the lovely curd, which is now ricotta.

By understanding this process, you’ll appreciate why it’s called ricotta. In Italian, it means “recooked”.

It is then placed in a plastic mould and left to drain for about 4-6 hours and they are ready to consume. This also means that ricotta is highly perishable and certainly doesn’t last very long at all.

When you’re purchasing fresh ricotta from the deli, you’d want to eat it within a couple of days.

If you’re interested in cheese making, you can read about Amy’s parmigiano reggiano cheese making experience in Italy with a master cheesemaker.

Lemon Parsley Anchovy and Garlic Dressing Ingrédients

Flat leaf parsley: Add some fresh herbs into your dressing to give it a nice overall flavour.

Anchovy fillets: Love this salty fish and how it just makes everything taste so much better! Once it’s pureed with the other ingredients, it will give your salad a really nice and strong finish.

Some great anchovy brands include Agostina Recca, Crown Prince and of course, Wild Planet.

Ricotta: Using this sweet Italian cheese to form the creamy base for this dressing. It’s fluffy texture lends itself to creating gorgeous textures.

Garlic: Let’s add to the strong flavours of this dressing. Smash it to release all the good things about garlic and let it permeate into the other ingredients.

Olive oil: An essential component of the recipe as always. I’m not sure if you do this but I have olive oil specifically for salad dressings only. A good quality, robust olive oil.

Lemon: Rather than the usual squeeze of a lemon to enhance a dressing, lemon plays an important role in this recipe.

Salt and pepper: Just enough to taste. I wouldn’t go overboard with the salt as the anchovies are salty enough.

Lemon Parsley Anchovy and Garlic Dressing Method

An easy parsley salad dressing that works well with quite a few different combinations of ingredients including pasta, potato, pumpkin, cauliflower, just to name a few.

I used my food processor for this as it was the quickest way to zip everything together. You can finely chop everything if no food processor is available.

Place anchovies, flat leaf parsley and garlic into a food processor and blitz until well blended. Add lemon juice and olive oil and blend until combined. Take the lid off the food processor and stir in ricotta cheese until you have a creamy consistency.

Season with salt and pepper to taste. You may want to check the flavour before seasoning as the anchovies may have enough salty flavours that you don’t need extra salt for this dressing.

Best Salad for This Dressing

Peas and Pasta Salad with Prosciutto

A quick and easy pasta salad covered with a savoury anchovy, parsley and ricotta dressing with pops of green peas and crispy prosciutto, we know you are going to love it. Great pasta with prosciutto recipe, perfect for lunches on the go and sunny outdoor picnics.

More Salad Dressing Recipes

Recipe

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