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Caesar’s Caesar Salad
Pati Jinich, Javier Plascencia
117 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
117
1 hour 40 minutes (including 1 hour’s chilling)
Updated Oct. 12, 2023
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Heat oven to 450 degrees. On a rimmed sheet pan, combine zucchini, scallions and 3 tablespoons of the oil; season with salt and pepper. Toss to coat, then spread in an even layer. (It’s OK for the slices to overlap.) Roast until tender, stirring halfway, 20 to 25 minutes.
When zucchini is almost done, cook pasta according to package directions until al dente; drain.
In a large bowl, combine lemon juice, tahini, garlic, the remaining 6 tablespoons of oil and 3 tablespoons of water; season with salt and pepper and whisk until well blended.
Add the warm pasta, zucchini mixture, sunflower seeds and raisins to the dressing. Season with salt and pepper; toss to coat. Stir in the cheese and parsley.
The pasta salad can be made a few hours ahead and kept refrigerated. Bring to room temperature and toss well before serving.
A note on zucchini. Many cooks salt eggplant to sweat out excess moisture, resulting in a firmer, less soggy product for roasting or frying. The same can be done for zucchini and summer squash. Slice or chop to desired shape, salt liberally (I use Morton's) all over, and allow to sweat in a colander over a dish or in the sink. Rinse well and pat dry before using. It will pick up some saltiness - a bonus - and be much firmer. I fry naked coins, cubes, or spears in cast iron in olive oil - yum!
Used dried cranberries instaead of golden raisins and double the parsley. It was delicious!
I made this following the recipe, but served hot. Excellent! Vegan creamy. I made zucchini and dressing the day before, then tossed all ingredients with hot pasta. Guests kept serving themselves again and again.
Very good! I used mixture of summer squash with zucchini, and I cooked it a bit longer than suggested for a more jammy squash. For a more vegetable-forward salad, I used half the recommended amount of pasta (which was plenty even at 8 ounces)
I doubled the dressing, but otherwise made the recipe as written. Delicious! A great salad to bring to a gathering this summer.
Thanks to Misty for your suggestion! I tossed a few cloves of garlic with peel still on onto the tray of zucchini slices, and it roasted beautifully and lent a great mellow garlic flavor. I reduced pasta to 2/3 of a box, and added cannellini beans to tossed ingredients at the end (next time would add beans to roasting tray). Toasted walnuts swapped in for sunflower seeds was a great match for the flavors.
Delicious! This came out beautifully. I had about 2 1/4 lbs of zucchini and I thought that the veggie/pasta ratio was good. Made extra dressing based on the advice of previous reviewers. Skipped the parmesan and didn't miss it. Make sure you buy 2 bunches of scallions at the grocery store to get a full cup. Also the raw garlic in the dressing was a little bit strong for my taste--I will make sure to mince it more finely next time or macerate it in the lemon juice for a few minutes.
Really good! Made vegan by subbing nutritional yeast for Parmesan cheese. Reduced olive oil to 4 T and divided between roasting and sauce. Added cherry tomatoes to zucchini when roasting.
A little red pepper flakes.
What if the garlic was roasted with the zukes and scallions?
This was really delicious. I used orecchiette for the pasta (I always halve the pasta amount with NYT recipes). Don't like sunflower seeds so topped with Trader Joes dukkah. This would be a lovely summer evening meal with a side of sliced ripe tomatoes that are drizzled with a syrupy balsamic.
Omitted raisins and salted and dried zucchini before roasting but otherwise followed the recipe. Raw garlic in the dressing was a bit sharp even to my garlic-loving Korean tastebud but otherwise very good (and I did soak it in the lemon juice). Zucchini sort of melted into the salad making it look a bit messy but no big deal. Sweetness of the zucchini was just enough for me so didn’t miss the raisins. Looking forward to the leftovers which I suspect would be better
We love this recipe and have made it several times now and our guests have always enjoyed it. We add roasted cherry tomatoes and a few olives to the mix and that gives even more flavor.
This came out extremely well, and I would make again. Did reduce the pasta by 30%, but everything else was as described. Delicious!
From the way the salad is pictured it looks like yellow squash is also a part of the recipe.
Loved it! I salted & drained the sliced zucchini and then tossed it with with olive oil & pepper and grilled it outside (keeping the kitchen cool). Instead of scallions I grilled sliced red onions tossed in olive oil, salt & pepper. Based on others' comments, I skipped the garlic, parmesan and parsley. I subbed pumpkin seeds for sunflower seeds. And here's another way I keep my kitchen cool.....I cooked the pasta in my rice cooker which I plugged in outside on the back deck!
i substituted sun dried tomatoes for the raisins! YUM.
This is good, but I should have doubled the dressing as was mentioned below. I will definitely do that next time.
Surprising depth of flavor, loved it!
I adjusted the pasta amount to ¼lb, and it was still pasta forward! The zucchini seemed to disappear. Next time, I'll just slice the zucchini, not lengthwise as well. Used about a tablespoon of olive oil in the dressing. I used pepitas. The dressing was quite flavorful. The raisins didn't add anything, I'll skip them. Served with sauteed shrimp.
Just made this. So easy & really yummy. I followed one suggestion to roast the garlic with the squash. I left out the raisins - sweet didn’t sound good- & used pepitas instead of sunflower seeds as it’s what I had. Also, I forgot to add the oil to the dressing & I don’t think it’s necessary.
Use cherries instead of raisins
Very good. Next time I’ll slice the zucchini a little thicker so it has more body in the dish. I used pine nuts instead of sunflower seeds. Delish.
Any recommendations on what would be a good substitute for tahini in this recipe? I’m allergic to sesame.
Susan - try grinding up some roasted cashews or use cashew butter. You may then need a bit more liquid or try some seasoned oil.
I wasn’t enthusiastic about the fresh taste, but it’s better after it sits in the fridge. Zucchini mixture itself is bland and disintegrates—season liberally (herbs and spices) and try the suggestion to salt zucchini beforehand.
I added a head of roasted cauliflower and chopped spinach which were nice additions. I also doubled the dressing, but omitted the extra oil since I find tahini plenty rich/oily. And also I omitted the Parmesan to make vegan and was a bit more liberal with the raisins and sunflower seeds. Will definitely make again!
Delicious! I'm skeptical when it comes to tahini. Everything in this dish worked. Like others, I roasted the garlic gloves with the zucchini. I also used dried cranberries, as it is what I had on hand. Totally looking forward tot he leftovers!
This recipe is amazing. I followed it almost exactly-I left out the raisins because I’m not really a raisin person and it was FANTASTIC.
Delicious combination of flavors! I used ditalini pasta, raw pepitas (to cut down the saltiness) and omitted the raisins (personal preference). I think it could use more zucchini and lemon juice for balance.
Great dish and so easy for mid week. The zucchini gets so sweet and the sultanas are such a good touch too.
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