Chef Dean
Antipasto Skewers
The abundance of an Italian antipasto platter captured on a single pick: folded salami, sharp provolone, briny olives, and tender artichoke hearts, finished with fresh basil and a bright olive oil drizzle.
Culinary Explorer
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Bagna Cauda with Market Vegetables
Created by
A warm Piedmontese bath of melted garlic, butter, and anchovies for dipping whatever the market offers today. Communal, primal, and impossible to stop eating.
Appetizers & Snacks
Italian
Dinner Party
Make Ahead
25 min
Active Time
20 min cook•45 min total
Yield6 servings
Start with the anchovies. Not the cheap ones packed in vegetable oil that taste of tin and regret, but the salt-packed fillets you rinse and separate yourself, the ones that smell like clean ocean and dissolve into warm butter like they were always meant to be there. This is bagna cauda: the warm bath.
In Piedmont, this dish belongs to the harvest season, when farmers would gather after bringing in the cardoons and dip the raw stalks into a communal pot kept warm over coals. The vegetables have changed with the seasons and the century, but the ritual remains. You gather. You dip. You talk. The sauce stays warm.
The technique could not be simpler. Melt garlic in butter and oil until it surrenders completely, then dissolve anchovies into the fat until everything becomes one silky, golden, intensely savory sauce. Your job is to find beautiful vegetables and get out of the way.
Every meal is a meaningful choice. The carrots with their tops still attached, the radishes that were in the ground this morning, the fennel from the farmer who grows only three things but grows them well. These choices shape the dish far more than any technique ever could.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
salt-packed anchovies
Quantity
8
rinsed and filleted, or 16 oil-packed fillets
garlic cloves
Quantity
10
peeled and thinly sliced
unsalted butter
Quantity
1/2 cup (1 stick/113g)
extra-virgin olive oil
Quantity
1/2 cup
radishes with tops
Quantity
1 pound
halved if large
carrots with tops
Quantity
1 bunch
scrubbed and halved lengthwise
radicchio
Quantity
1 head
quartered through the core
fennel bulb
Quantity
1
cut into wedges through the core
celery hearts with leaves
Quantity
1 bunch
separated into stalks
scallions
Quantity
1 bunch
trimmed
crusty bread
Quantity
for serving
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| salt-packed anchoviesrinsed and filleted, or 16 oil-packed fillets | 8 |
| garlic clovespeeled and thinly sliced | 10 |
| unsalted butter | 1/2 cup (1 stick/113g) |
| extra-virgin olive oil | 1/2 cup |
| radishes with topshalved if large | 1 pound |
| carrots with topsscrubbed and halved lengthwise | 1 bunch |
| radicchioquartered through the core | 1 head |
| fennel bulbcut into wedges through the core | 1 |
| celery hearts with leavesseparated into stalks | 1 bunch |
| scallionstrimmed | 1 bunch |
| crusty bread | for serving |
Equipment Needed
- •Small heavy saucepan or fondue pot
- •Fondue warmer, candle, or small slow cooker
- •Large platter or wooden board for vegetables
Instructions
- 1
Prepare the anchovies
If using salt-packed anchovies, rinse them under cool water and use your fingers to gently separate the fillets from the spine. Pat dry. Salt-packed anchovies have more depth and less of that tinny quality. They are worth seeking out. If using oil-packed, drain them well and blot on a paper towel.
Good anchovies should smell like the sea, not like a can. If your anchovies smell aggressive, they are not the right ones. - 2
Melt the garlic gently
Combine the butter and olive oil in a small heavy saucepan or fondue pot over the lowest possible heat. Add the sliced garlic and let it soften completely, stirring occasionally. This takes fifteen to twenty minutes. The garlic should become tender enough to crush against the side of the pan with no resistance. It should never, ever brown.
Patience here is everything. Browned garlic turns bitter and ruins the sauce. If your heat is too high, pull the pan off entirely for a minute. - 3
Dissolve the anchovies
Add the anchovy fillets to the warm butter. Stir and press with a wooden spoon until they dissolve completely into the fat. The sauce will look murky and rough at first, then come together into something silky and unified. The kitchen will smell intensely of garlic and the sea. This is correct.
- 4
Prepare the vegetables
While the bagna cauda simmers, arrange your market vegetables on a large platter or wooden board. Leave the radish tops attached if they are fresh and perky. Keep the fennel fronds. The celery leaves stay. These green bits are not waste. They are flavor and beauty. Chill the platter until the sauce is ready.
The vegetables should be cold and crisp against the warm sauce. This contrast is part of the pleasure. - 5
Serve warm and communal
Transfer the bagna cauda to a small fondue pot, ceramic warmer, or the smallest pot you have set over a candle. It must stay warm but never hot enough to fry. Place it at the center of the table with the vegetable platter alongside. Each person dips, drags through the golden sauce, and eats directly. Bread catches the drips. Conversation flows. This is the whole point.
Chef Tips
- •Salt-packed anchovies from Sicily or Spain have the cleanest, most complex flavor. Find them at Italian markets or order online. They keep for months in the refrigerator.
- •The vegetables here are suggestions. Use what calls to you at the market. Endive, baby turnips, blanched asparagus in spring, roasted squash wedges in fall. The sauce welcomes all of them.
- •If you cannot find a fondue pot, set your smallest saucepan on a folded kitchen towel to insulate it, or use a small slow cooker on the warm setting.
- •The leftover sauce, if there is any, makes an extraordinary pasta. Toss with hot spaghetti and a splash of pasta water. Add breadcrumbs toasted in olive oil.
Advance Preparation
- •The bagna cauda can be made up to three days ahead and refrigerated. Reheat very gently over low heat, stirring constantly, until warm and fluid again.
- •Vegetables can be prepped, wrapped in damp towels, and refrigerated up to one day ahead. Arrange on the platter just before serving.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 350g)
Calories
480 calories
Total Fat
36 g
Saturated Fat
13 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
23 g
Cholesterol
50 mg
Sodium
590 mg
Total Carbohydrates
33 g
Dietary Fiber
7 g
Sugars
5 g
Protein
9 g
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