Bagna Cauda

Bagna Cauda, originated from Piedmont, is an Italian anchovy dip. If you’re already “browsing the net” because there is anchovy, you’re cheating yourself for a wonderful taste experience.

I hate anchovies – or so I thought until I first tastes salsa verde, which is also an Italian dip. It tickles your tongue down to your throat with its incomparable taste.

The anchovy has the right – or closer duty – to be there. When it is blended and merged with the other ingredients, it gives an overwhelming and light salt flavor that you do not achieve in any other dishes.

Bagna cauda – recipe

The world of salsa gave me the courage to try other recipes with anchovies in, such as vitello tonnato and bagna cuda, which you can find the recipe here.

Ingredients for Bagna Cuda

Serving:          Maximum of 3 persons

• 1 glass of anchovies – approx. 50 g drained weight
• ¼ g salt
• 5-6 cloves of garlic
• 200 ml olive oil
• 50 g butter or 1 dl yogurt if you want to save on the fat, or half of each, if you cannot decide. If you get yoghurt, it must be added to the end.

How to prepare bagna cuda

Enjoying bagna cuda in its full essence and finest quality depends on how you prepare the dish. To give you a hint, Bagna cuda should be cook briefly and on low heat.

Put all the sliced garlic with a spoonful oil and the butter on a pan. Cook slowly for about half an hour on a very low heat, or up until the garlic is soft and fragrant but don’t let the garlic be fried or change its color to brown.   Always stir the mixture especially the garlic. The garlic should be soft forming a white smooth cream. At this point, pour all the remaining oil and anchovies into the pan and cook still on low heat just enough for the anchovies to dissolve perfectly into the garlic, creating a fragrant, pale brown cream. Just a reminder that the oil should never have boiled or popped. If you want to make it creamier, whisk in about 2 tbs of butter at the end.

Bagna cauda is usually used to dip fresh vegetables. It may be carrots, spring onions, candy or sugar peas, radishes, asparagus, fennel, peppers, pale or celery, etc. But it also tastes good to dip the bread, for example a flute or ciabatta bread.

You can also see the video below:

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 30-45 minutes