Bagna Cauda
A hot bath of anchovy, garlic and oil kept warm at the table for dipping raw vegetables into. Piedmont in November, and it is meant to be eaten in quantity.
Photograph credit: Bagna càuda dip (image of bagna càuda on Wikidata Q799938) by Masaaki Komori from Tokyo, JAPAN · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons · this resized copy is shared under the same licence
How to Make Bagna Cauda
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Simmer the garlic in the milk for 20 minutes over low heat, until completely soft and the milk has gone. Discard any milk that remains.
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Crush the poached garlic to a paste with the back of a fork.
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Put the garlic paste, anchovies and olive oil in a small heavy pan over the lowest heat you can manage.
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Cook 20 minutes, stirring and pressing, until the anchovies have completely dissolved into the oil. It must never sizzle.
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Whisk in the butter a few pieces at a time until the sauce is glossy and slightly thickened.
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Add the pepper. It will not need salt.
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Pour into a warmed earthenware pot over a burner and serve with the raw vegetables and potatoes around it.
Related guide: Ingredient substitutions.
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Tips for Making Bagna Cauda
- Poach the garlic in milk first. It is what makes it digestible.
- The lowest heat you have. Sizzling oil turns it bitter.
- Keep it warm at the table, not hot.
Common Substitutions & Variations
- An eighth of a teaspoon of garlic powder per clove is the stand-in usually given when you are out of fresh garlic; it will not brown the same way, and it burns easily, so add it with the liquid.
What to Serve with Bagna Cauda
- Raw vegetables
- A glass of Barbera
- Boiled eggs
Keeping and Reheating
Refrigerated for up to 4 days. Rewarm very gently — it separates if boiled.
Nutrition per Serving
No nutrition figures are given for this recipe: they cannot be worked out reliably from its ingredient list (some ingredient lines cannot be read). Why some recipes have none.
Gluten-free when served without the grissini.
Your notes on this recipe
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.
First published ; last changed .
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