Creamy Bagna Cauda - Italian Bagna Cauda
How To Make Bagna Cauda

Bagna Cauda [BAHN-yah KOW-dah] - also spelled bagna caôda. This dish is a specialty of Piedmont, Italy. Translated, it means "warm sauce” or “hot bath.”  The bath, olive oil, is gently warmed with garlic cloves and anchovies until the oil is scented, the garlic is softened, the anchovies are dissolved and tamed. Essentially, it is an Italian dip.

Although the original dish was very simple, often thrown together as a morning snack for vineyard workers pruning the vines in midwinter, it has since moved into the realm of the home and been spruced up. The sauce is sometimes served over a candle to keep it warm. In Alba, you might find it with truffles. Sometimes it's made with milk or butter. Sometimes it's made with walnut oil.

I adapted this recipe from the Genova Restaurant in Portland, Oregon. This sauce is served in a pot, for everyone to dip the vegetables into. Serve it with chunks of crusty bread and your favorite raw vegetables. It's fun for a party appetizer no matter where you live.

Don't forget to check out my Honey-Glazed Ham Easter dinner menu and Prime Rib Dinner Menu which includes this great Creamy Bagna Caudu as a before dinner appetizer.
 

Wash and prepare the vegetables several hours before using them. Cut vegetable into strips about 3 inches long and 1/2-inch wide. Place all the vegetables in ice water to crisp. NOTE: Remember, this is a dip for vegetables freshly picked at the peak. Use only the youngest, sweetest variety of them as possible, and before serving pat all the vegetables dry with a towel.

In a large heavy saucepan over medium-high heat, add cream and garlic; bring just to a boil, lower heat to medium, and cook, stirring constantly, approximately 15 minutes or until the cream has thickened and reduced by half. Remove from heat and let cool.

In another saucepan, melt the butter (or add olive oil). Mash anchovies with a fork and add to butter, along with parsley and cayenne; cook until the anchovies dissolves into a paste, about 5 minutes. 

When cream has cooled, mash the garlic with a fork. Force the cream and garlic through a sieve into the butter mixture. Heat the sauce, stirring, but do not let it boil.

Serve in warming dish over candle (a fondue pot works well). If sauce begins to separate while standing, a few turns with a whisk will bring it back together. Sauce may be made ahead and kept refrigerated in covered jar. To re-warm, place jar in cold water in a pan and gently raise the heat until mixture is liquid again.