This past Christmas Chris and I gave my sister and her hubs a wine tasting class at Eataly. We strategically gave them 4 tickets, insisting they take whomever they wanted…luckily they chose us! This class ended up being quite a momentous occasion for me for two reasons.
First, I had thought I was allergic to wine (after a few bad experiences in college) but decided it was about time to give it another try and I loved it! Perhaps I was never allergic or maybe it was just wine from a box that didn’t sit so well.
Second, I thought I did not like anchovies but after devouring the salad paired with the first wine (actually a champagne-style wine called Contessa Rosa Alta Langa… which i highly recommend) I looked at the recipe in our handouts and sure enough the dressing had anchovy! I will admit I still find them kind of gross when whole but the beauty of Bagna Cauda is that the anchovy cooks down to nothing, leaving its intense depth of flavor (aka umami).
I paired it with some greek yogurt to make it more dip-able but I have also been spooning it quite generously over grilled veggies (radicchio being my favorite combo).
Bagna Cauda
Yield: 1-1½ cups
Ingredients
4 tbl unsalted butter
1 cup olive oil
6 cloves garlic, minced
6 anchovy fillets, minced
1 cup parmesan, grated
2 tsp black pepper
Instructions
Heat the butter and olive oil in a large sauté pan and add the minced garlic and anchovies.
Cook until garlic becomes golden brown - garlic goes from perfectly golden to burned quite quickly so keep an eye on it.
Immediately remove from the heat and stir in parmesan and pepper - It should not need salt because of the anchovies and parmesan so only add some if you have tasted it first.
Serve warm drizzled over grilled vegetables or as a dip - which I like to serve over greek yogurt (like the picture) for better dip-ability.
Notes
If you are not into anchovies you can absolutely still make this - it might need a touch of sea salt added at the end to balance the flavors out.
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