Bagna cauda

Who doesn’t know it? Months after returning from holiday, you still keep making that one dish you ate at sunset on the village square beneath that plane tree. Just to be back there for a little while.

Bagna cauda, one of the culinary highlights of Italy’s Piedmont region, is such a dish. And who has a better recipe than chef Antonio Carluccio, who grew up in Piedmont and is one half of the unforgettable BBC cooking duo Two Greedy Italians?

Preparation

Put the garlic cloves in a small saucepan and cook them covered with milk over a very low heat until soft. Remove the pan from the heat and mash the cloves into the milk until a creamy sauce forms. Add the anchovies and let them dissolve into the sauce over low heat, stirring. Once the sauce is nice and smooth, carefully add the butter and olive oil, and finally the cream.

Pour the bagna cauda into a small caquelon (fondue pot) and place it on a warmer. Dip the raw vegetables into it. For example, artichoke, radish, radicchio, green asparagus, fennel, or whatever is in season. Eat this with bread.

Optional: Stir a beaten egg into the last remaining bit of sauce for the ultimate finale.

Recipe: Antonio Carluccio
Photo: Instagram @mika.828