Broccoli with Bagna Cauda
6 tbl. butter
1 cup olive oil
8 cloves garlic,minced
12 anchovy fillets, rinsed and dried
1 lb. broccoli
Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Add the garlic and cook over a gentle heat for 2-3 minutes. It must not brown and turn bitter. Add the anchovies, which will virtually dissolve with a bit of stirring. Pour in the olive oil slowly, stirring all the time. Simmer, not boil, for 10 minutes. Blanche the broccoli in boiling water for a couple of minutes; keep it crisp. Serve the sauce hot. in a bowl, stirring it up with the drained sprigs of broccoli each time you dip them in. Soak up the remaining sauce with hunks of bread.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Bagna cauda
Bagna cauda has been on my radar screen since it was in the New York Times a few months ago. I hadn't gotten around to making it, but then I saw a recipe in Nigel Slater's Real Fast Food. It's more olive oil than butter, compared with Craig Claiborn's recipe which was two parts butter to one part oil. I made a half recipe, which was a lot for two of us. I'm sure that the buttery version would be good too, but I liked the olive oil-dominated recipe. It wasn't too fishy from the anchovies, but they give it a nice savory umami flavor.
There's a Nigella Lawson broccoli sauce that's really amazingly good. It's a combo of butter (6 T), dijon mustard (2 t), juice of half a lemon and capers (2 T). I reduce the quantity of butter - I just can't bring myself to use as much as she calls for!
ReplyDeleteThis is one of my favorites! Also good for dipping: thinly sliced fennel root and cauliflower (and anything else you like, really). Leftovers reheat well. Sometimes I also add rosemary, and other herbs are probably good as well.
ReplyDeleteToday we made spider cake for breakfast! Yum.