A good dressing does one job well: disappear into the salad while making every leaf taste better. This one does that, then keeps going. Built on a classic garlic, caper and Parmesan base and sharpened with a native trio, it is punchy enough to earn a place well beyond the lettuce bowl.
Lemon Myrtle supplies a lemon-lime lift no bottled juice can match, Tasmanian Native Pepper Medley builds a slow-burning warmth, and Native Blend Pink Lake Salt carries its own aromatic backbone of Mountain Pepperleaf, Saltbush, Kunzea and Native Thyme underneath the salt itself. Make a batch a day ahead, and by the time it hits the table the garlic has mellowed and every flavour has found its place.
The overnight rest is not a suggestion you can skip if you are short on time. Freshly made, this dressing tastes sharp and a little raw, with the garlic still biting. Left covered in the fridge overnight, the garlic softens into the background, the Lemon Myrtle blooms properly instead of sitting on top of everything else, and the Parmesan has time to fully dissolve into the emulsion rather than clumping. If you truly need it same-day, give it at least two hours and know it will taste noticeably better tomorrow.
At a glance: Makes about 150ml (dresses a salad for 4 to 6) | Prep 10 min | No cooking | Best made a day ahead
Ingredients
- 1 medium garlic clove
- 1 teaspoon capers (about 18)
- 1 teaspoon Lemon Myrtle
- ½ teaspoon Tasmanian Native Pepper Medley, freshly ground
- ½ teaspoon Native Blend Pink Lake Salt
- 3 tablespoons (45ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 5 tablespoons (35g) freshly grated Parmesan
- ¼ cup (60ml) extra-virgin olive oil
Method
- On a cutting board, smash the garlic clove with the flat of a knife and mince it coarsely. Add the capers and keep chopping the two together until they form a rough, fine paste. Transfer to a small bowl.
- Add the Lemon Myrtle, the ground Pepper Medley, the Pink Lake Salt, the lemon juice and the Parmesan. Whisk until everything is evenly combined and the Parmesan has softened into the mixture.
- Whisking constantly, add the olive oil in a slow, thin stream. The dressing will thicken and turn pale and creamy as it emulsifies - rushing the oil in all at once is the most common reason a dressing splits instead of holding.
- Taste and adjust: a touch more lemon juice if it needs brightening, a little more ground Pepper Medley if you want more heat.
- Cover and refrigerate, ideally overnight. The flavour keeps building for at least a day, so resist tasting it fresh and calling it finished.
Where this dressing earns its keep
The name undersells it. This started life as a green-salad dressing, but the same garlic, caper and Parmesan base with that native seasoning underneath works just as hard on hot food. Spoon it over corn straight off the barbecue and let it melt into the kernels. Toss it through broccolini or other greens while the pan is still warm, so it clings rather than pools. Its sharpness also makes a fast stand-in for a Caesar-style dressing over a chicken or prawn salad, where the Parmesan and capers are already doing half the work a marinade normally would.
Treat it as a fridge staple rather than a one-off. Once you have a jar made, deciding what to put it on becomes the easier problem: a roast vegetable tray that needs a lift once it comes out of the oven, a bowl of steamed greens on a weeknight, or a simple green salad that needs to hold its own next to something richer on the table. The base recipe stays the same; only what it lands on changes.
Tips and swaps
- This dressing is far more versatile than the name suggests: hot corn, warm broccolini, or a chicken or prawn salad all take well to it.
- Swap the Parmesan for a hard pecorino if you want a sharper, saltier edge.
- For a milder version, use half the garlic and ease the Pepper Medley back to a light pinch rather than a full ½ teaspoon.
- Lemon Myrtle is available from specialty native food suppliers.
- If the chilled dressing thickens and the oil clouds, let it sit at room temperature for 10 minutes and whisk again before serving. A final grind of Tasmanian Native Pepper Medley or a pinch of Native Blend Pink Lake Salt at the table is an easy way to season to taste without adding more acidity.
- Building a bigger spread? Our BBQ Roast Pumpkin and Zucchini with Bush Dukkah Marinade dresses the same grilled vegetables with a completely different native flavour, so the two are an easy pair on a barbecue table.
Storage
Keep in a sealed jar in the fridge for up to 5 days. The olive oil will firm and cloud when cold, so give it a good shake or whisk and let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes before serving. This is an emulsified dressing, so it is not a good candidate for the freezer - freezing splits the oil from the rest permanently.
Shop the recipe
- Tasmanian Native Pepper Medley - grind it fresh for a warm pepper note that builds rather than bites.
- Native Blend Pink Lake Salt - carries Mountain Pepperleaf, Saltbush, Kunzea and Native Thyme into the dressing along with the salt itself.
