Anchovies and garlic go on the cutting board together. Mash it with the flat side of your knife till it's a rough paste, maybe 30-40 seconds of work. This bit matters more than people think, stops you biting into a random chunk of fish later, everything just spreads through evenly instead.

Bowl. Mayo, mustard, lemon juice, Worcestershire. Whisk till smooth, doesn't take long.

Mix that anchovy garlic paste in. Add the parmesan. Pour the oil in slow while you keep stirring till it all pulls together.

Check how thick it is. Too thick, water, a little at a time, don't dump it all in. Taste it before you're done, always. Needs more brightness, lemon. Needs more punch, parmesan or pepper. Fix it till it tastes right to you and not just how the recipe says it should be.

Wash your romaine and actually dry it properly, not just a quick shake and call it done. Wet lettuce won't hold the dressing and you end up with this watery mess pooling at the bottom instead of a properly coated salad.

Toss the lettuce with the dressing in a big bowl till every leaf's covered. Croutons on top, more parmesan, and you're done.

Want it as a full meal instead of a side:

grilled chicken

crispy shrimp

roasted chickpeas

turkey bacon

grilled vegetables

Fresh parmesan actually melts into the dressing properly, the bagged pre shredded stuff has some kind of anti clumping coating on it that stops it doing the same thing, just sits there a bit gritty instead.

Don't skip the anchovies because they sound intimidating, without them you basically just have a creamy garlic sauce, which is fine but it's not this.

Fridge it for half an hour before serving if you've got the time, flavor settles and rounds out nicer.

Use decent lemon juice and real parmesan, it's a short list of ingredients so every single one is doing actual work here, there's nowhere for a bad ingredient to hide.

Sealed jar in the fridge, lasts about 3-5 days. Thickens up as it chills, just stir it and loosen with a splash of water or lemon if you need to.