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CREAMY ITALIAN SALAD DRESSING

The creaminess comes from an egg, which emulsifies the oil and vinegar, and a bit of gelatin, which also helps with emulsification and thickening. Once you've dealt with those two items the rest of the dressing is very easy.
Course Salad
Servings 10 2-tablespoon servings, or about 1 1/4 cups
Author Debi Simons

Ingredients

  • 1 egg I usually buy jumbo ones.
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1/8 scant tsp. unflavored gelatin This isn't completely necessary; don't use any more or the dressing will start resembling jello.
  • 1/3 cup red-wine vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon sugar Which is not very much compared to what's in the store-bought stuff--take a look sometime at the labels of commercial dressing. 1 tablespoon is only 12 grams and that's for the whole recipe.
  • 1 heaping tsp. dried Italian seasoning
  • 2 cloves garlic pressed or 1/4 tsp. granulated garlic I actually prefer the granulated garlic for this type of recipe, as it gives a smoother product. I buy a high-quality toasted granulated garlic from a spice store.
  • 1/2 tsp. freshly-ground pepper Which I don't really measure--just give it a good half-dozen or so grinds.
  • 1/4 tsp. salt
  • 3/4 cup olive oil

Instructions

  1. Sprinkle the gelatin over the lemon juice, using the container for the dressing if possible. Let the gelatin soften briefly, then whisk in the egg and microwave on high for about 35 seconds. You want to get the temp to 160 degrees to kill any salmonella in the egg. (I use an instant-read thermometer to make sure it has gotten hot enough, although in reality it's very rare to get sick from a raw egg. It's more for my own peace of mind than out of any real danger that I go through this procedure, but I'd need to heat the liquid anyway to dissolve the gelatin.) Once you've done this a few times you'll know how much time you need for your particular microwave.

  2. If you used the container for the dressing and you have a stick blender, then blend in the vinegar and other ingredients minus the oil. If not, then scrape the egg/lemon juice mixture into whatever container you're using or into your blender container if you don't have a stick blender, add the vinegar/other ingredients as above, and process well. Then slowly pour in the olive oil and blend until completely emulsified; you can tell this has happened when the color becomes lighter and the dressing looks creamy.

  3. Chill thoroughly; the dressing will thicken somewhat after chilling.

Recipe Notes

This recipe makes a delicious, not-very-strong dressing that will please most tastes. My favorite combo to use with it is: romaine or leaf lettuce, roasted red peppers, thinly-sliced red onion, and homemade croutons. Spinach and pine nuts would also be good (if you can stand to pay for the pine nuts).