Caesar Salad Tostadas with White Anchovies and Garlicky White Beans

Roast the garlic and chiles. Heat a large 10-inch skillet over medium heat. Lay in the garlic and chiles. Turn everything regularly until blackened in spots and soft—10 to 15 minutes for the garlic, much less for the chile. Cool and peel the garlic. Roughly chop 1 of the roasted chiles; thinly slice the other (I leave the seeds in). Set aside. Make the bean puree. Drain and reserve the cooking liquid from the white beans, then scrape them into a food processor or blender with 8 cloves of roasted garlic and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Process until smooth. (If the beans won’t move through the blender blades, add the cooking liquid–a little at a time– until the beans move.) The consistency should be smooth and as thick as mayonnaise; if yours is thicker, stir in a little liquid. Taste and season with salt–this may not be necessary if you’re working with seasoned beans. Scrape into a bowl. Prepare the Caesar dressing. On your cutting board, roughly chop the remaining 4 cloves of roasted garlic and 3 of the white anchovies. Add the roughly chopped toasted chile and work everything into a rough paste--chop it all together, then use the side of your knife to smear it back and forth until it holds together. There should still be some texture. Scoop the garlic-anchovy mixture into a large bowl and measure in the lemon juice, mustard, Worcestershire and egg yolk. Slowly drizzle in 3/4 cup of olive oil in a thin stream, whisking continuously as you add it, until everything comes together into a light dressing. Lastly, whisk in some Parmesan–I like a couple of tablespoons in the dressing. Taste and season with salt and pepper, usually about a generous ½ teaspoon each. Dress the greens. Pour half the dressing into a jar, cover and refrigerate for another round of salad. Add the sliced Little Gem leaves to the remaining dressing and toss to coat. Assemble the tostadas. Spread about 2 tablespoons of the bean puree on each tostada, then top each one with 3 anchovies. Crown with dressed greens, slivers of thinly sliced roasted serrano chile, a shower of Parmesan and, if you like, a little freshly grated lemon zest.