If you’re having a Christmas or New Year party, and are putting on a buffet, you’ll probably want to provide a dip. Rather than buying one, try making some Italian bagna caoda instead. It’s a hot garlic and anchovy sauce from Piedmont, and is quick and easy to make. You serve the bagna caoda with a selection of fresh raw vegetables. There are variations on the recipe for bagna caoda: some versions are made with tomatoes, others are simply oil, garlic and anchovies. You’ll often see it in bars in Turin, as it’s great with an aperitif. Bagna caoda is served hot (that’s temperature, not spicy hot), so this is the time to get out that fondue set you rarely use – or one of those trays that use night lights to keep the food warm. The dish is best made in a double boiler. If you don’t have one, then use two saucepans instead, ensuring that one will easily fit inside the other. You can use the recipe below as a guide - there are several different versions of it.
Bagna caoda – Recipe – serves 8
- Approx 300 ml (10 fl oz) extra virgin olive oil
- 45 g (1 ½ oz) butter
- 2-3 cloves finely sliced garlic (use a crusher if you’re in a hurry)
- 8 drained anchovy fillets (those from a can will do), chopped finely
- Salt
- Small tomato – peeled and finely chopped (optional)
Method
- Put water in the largest saucepan and bring it to a simmer (don’t have too much – it mustn’t reach the top of the other saucepan, which you’re going to put in later. You don’t want it to slop over and burn you).
- Heat the oil in the smallest saucepan until it’s hot, then add the garlic and fry it. Make sure you don’t burn the garlic, it tastes horrible. Just let it get to a very light golden colour and no more.
- Now remove from the heat and place this saucepan into the one with the simmering water – so you’ve got a sort of double saucepan. Add the anchovies and stir them in, so they start to dissolve into the oil. Then add the butter and stir that in too.
- Add salt to taste and the tomato if you like. You should end up with a rich, runny paste.
- Put the bagna caoda into the warmed fondue pot (or whatever you’re serving it in, an earthenware pot is good) and bring it to the table so everyone can enjoy it hot.
Serve the bagna caoda with crisp crudités. Wash the vegetables first, then slice lengthways so that they’re easy to dip. Thinly chopped carrots, courgettes (zucchini) and sweet peppers all go well. You can also have little broccoli or cauliflower florets, and some crunchy radishes.
Some versions of bagna caoda involve softening the garlic in the butter first, then adding the oil. Other people like to add a little wine to the sauce as well.
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