Here’s another typical recipe from my region, From Piedmont: Bagna Cauda is a delicious dish made with garlic, milk, and anchovies. The term Bagna Cauda means “hot dip,” dip because it is a sauce where various vegetables are dipped: from Jerusalem artichokes to boiled cardoons, from boiled potatoes to raw cabbage, from pickled peppers to boiled onions, from boiled potatoes to roasted peppers. This is the recipe my Grandma Teresa used to make, passed down to my Uncle Giuseppe and my mother. These quantities are for 4 or 5 people.
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- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 40 Minutes
- Portions: 4 People
- Cooking methods: Stove
- Cuisine: Italian Regional
Ingredients
- 14 oz anchovies (salted, cleaned equivalent to about 7 oz)
- 7 oz garlic (peeled, about 10 heads of garlic)
- 4 cups Milk
- 1 cup olive oil
- 1.76 lbs potatoes (peeled)
- 1.32 lbs red onions
- 7 oz carrots
- 2 peppers (pickled)
- 2 peppers (roasted)
- 10 leaves savoy cabbage (raw)
- 10 leaves lettuce
Preparation
First of all, since it’s the longest part, start by cleaning the anchovies.
Wash them under water to remove excess salt and then clean them well from the bones.
Dry them with a towel and set aside.
Also prepare the cooked vegetables.
This time I chose potatoes, onions, and carrots: wash and peel them, then cook them in the pressure cooker for about twenty minutes.
Now proceed to clean the garlic well, remove the germ from each clove, and cut it into not too small pieces.
Now put the garlic pieces in a bowl, cover it with 2 cups of milk and let it soak for about ten minutes.
After the time has passed, take the garlic from the milk with your hands, squeeze it lightly and put it in a terracotta saucepan.
Discard the milk in which the garlic rested.
Turn on the stove over medium heat, add the remaining 1 cup of milk to cover the garlic and cook for about 20 minutes.
After the time has elapsed, most of the milk will have been absorbed by the garlic, and the garlic will be soft enough to mash with a fork.
Mash it into a cream.
Now add the anchovies, let them dissolve and mix them with the garlic.
Add the oil to the sauce and continue cooking for another ten minutes, until the ingredients are well combined.
If necessary, mash again with a fork to further chop both the garlic and the anchovy.
Serve the Bagna Cauda in small bowls accompanied by boiled vegetables, raw ones (like cabbage and lettuce), roasted peppers, and pickled peppers.
Tips/Councils
There are special bowls for serving Bagna Cauda with a slot at the base to insert a candle that, when lit, keeps the sauce warm.
Removing the germ from the garlic and soaking it in milk will make it more digestible.
In this recipe, I used some vegetables, but you can also add Jerusalem artichokes, boiled cardoons, steamed beets.
I recommend not using extra virgin olive oil, as the taste would be too strong.
For preparing the pickled peppers, you can consult the recipe by clicking here.
If you liked the recipe From Piedmont: Bagna Cauda, check out the other Piedmontese recipes:
Savoy cabbage stuffed ravioli by Grandma Teresa
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