This mouthwatering lettuce, anchovy and egg salad with a creamy vinaigrette comes from our cookbook of the week, Rick Stein’s Spain, his latest book. Use the best quality anchovies you can find. All the ingredients can be prepared ahead of time, but assemble the salad and dress it at the last possible moment.

4 slices white crusty bread

±1T  olive oil

6 medium free-range eggs

3 Little Gem lettuce

50g (about 12) large anchovy fillets in olive oil, drained and cut on the diagonal into 2.5cm/1in pieces

Dressing

1 small garlic clove, crushed

1 large free-range egg yolk

1t  Dijon mustard

2T lemon juice

½t  caster sugar

±150ml extra virgin olive oil

salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. For the croutons, preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Cut the crusts off the bread and tear the remainder into small pieces. Toss them in a bowl with the olive oil. Spread onto a baking tray and bake for 5-7 minutes or until crisp and golden-brown. Remove and leave to cool, then season lightly with salt.
3. Meanwhile, put the eggs into a pan of boiling water and boil for eight minutes. Drain and cover with cold water.
4. For the dressing, put the garlic, egg yolk, mustard, lemon juice, sugar and some seasoning into a small bowl. Mix together briefly with a hand-held electric whisk, then slowly whisk in the oil to make a smooth dressing.
5. Discard the outside leaves of the lettuce if necessary and tear the rest into small pieces. Wash and dry well, then spread over the base of six medium serving plates. Peel the hard-boiled eggs and cut them into quarters. Arrange four pieces over each plate of lettuce leaves with the four strips of anchovy fillet and a few croutons. Drizzle one tablespoon of dressing over each plate and serve straight away.

Serves 4-6

Wickedfood Cooking School runs cooking classes throughout the year at its purpose-built Johannesburg cooking studio. Cookery classes are run in the mornings and evenings 7 days a week (subject to a minimum of 12 people). The venue is also popular for corporate events and private functions – teambuilding cooking classes, birthdays, kitchen teas, and dinner parties with a difference. Our cooking lessons are hands-on, where every person gets to participate in the preparation of the dishes. They are also a lot of fun where you not only learn new skills, but get to meet people with similar interests. For corporate groups and team building cooking classes these events are a novel way of creating staff interaction or entertaining clients.